


Into the Universe

by flynnaw00



Series: Time Travel Saga [1]
Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon), steven universe future - Fandom
Genre: Alternate Universe, Gen, Time Travel
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-01-06
Updated: 2020-06-10
Packaged: 2021-02-27 16:02:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 38
Words: 123,848
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22139770
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/flynnaw00/pseuds/flynnaw00
Summary: Steven Universe meets himself from the future. He came here on accident, but now that he's here, he's changing everything and fixing problems before they can be made.Basically Steven Universe and his future self bond and change the timeline.DISCLAIMER: Anything that I haven't changed from the show isn't mine-- YES chapters will include lines and plot points from the episodes! those ain't mine. anything original that wasn't in the actual show is mine. all other credit goes to Rebecca Sugar and her team
Relationships: Connie Maheswaran/Steven Universe, Steven Universe & Older Steven Universe, Steven Universe & Steven Universe
Series: Time Travel Saga [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2006848
Comments: 1328
Kudos: 2836





	1. Reformed

**Author's Note:**

> This is a fic for the blog @sutimetravelau on tumblr! It isn't necessary to go there, but there's more content there.
> 
> So! Here's how this is going to work: This fic will be from Reformed to Beach City Drift (maybe longer) and will basically be the episodes + future Steven. However, to keep this from just becoming a rewrite of the episodes, I'll be skipping over some that Future Steven wouldn't appear in, be cutting up his appearances in episodes where he's crucial sometimes, but not all the time (like a compilation), and sometimes the entire episode will be changed with his presence. It sounds more complex than it is so don't worry, just read it!
> 
> The first chapter is like a compilation and is kinda rough.. second chapter real good tho promise

“Sniffling Croissant! You really know me, internet.” Steven chuckled. He looked up from his phone. “Hey, guys!”   
  
His dad didn’t look up from his van, wrenching the engine. “Yeah, Steven?”   
  
“You guys should take this online quiz I found! It tells you.. What..” He trailed off as Pearl grabbed a tool from beside him. He got up from his tire seat, getting tired of sitting on it. “It um- tells you what character you are from crying breakfast friends!!”

“Eh.. why?” Pearl asked, quirking a brow.   
  
“It’s just fun to see yourself as a cartoon character! Like weeping egg cup, who’s neurotic and uptight.. Or pining Grapefruit, the sensitive older one who wishes he was a better role model!” 

Greg smiled weakly. “Uh- maybe we can do that thing  _ after  _ we fix the van..”

Steven sighed as he watched his guardians go back to fixing the van. “Okay..” He turned around, heading back to the temple. “I’ll just find someone else!”   
  
Steven ran up to the steps and opened the door, looking around for Garnet or Amethyst. He was sure they’d at least humour him. He wanted to know what they got!   
  
“Hey, Steven, is there any more engine oil? I need it for this sandwich.”   
  
Steven frowned.   
  
“Uh.. I think that’s for cars.”    
  
“Well, is there any more of it?”   
  
Steven frowned. Could gems eat engine oil? Could  _ he _ ?

“Uh.” He focused on their conversation. “Dad’s probably got some outside.. But! Oh! You gotta take this online quiz!” He held up the phone proudly. “Which Crying Breakfast friend are you?”   
  
Amethyst sat down. “That show’s.. Really weird. Who wants to watch a show about people crying?”

Steven whined, feelings hurt. “I do!”

“Okay, okay! What’s the first question?”   
  
Steven smiled, looking down at his phone to read off the questions. He went through each one, and each one Amethyst answered the opposite of what he thought she would say. He’d only lived with Amethyst for a few years, but he was sure she wasn’t an uptight overthinker..

After the fourth question, she gave up.    
  
“I’m bored.” She smirked, hopping off of her stool. Steven whined and watched her start to walk towards the temple door.   
  
“Wait!” He called. “I have loads more probing personal questions to--”   
  
Suddenly, he heard a loud, shimmering, swirling, noise behind him. Both him and Amethyst turned around and watched as a young teenage boy wearing a pink jacket fell out of a blue portal face first, slamming into the floor with a thud and groaning.   
  
“Whoa..” Amethyst gaped, grabbing her whip out of her gem. “What the heck..?”   
  
Steven blinked a few times, then rubbed his eyes. “Um.. is.. Is this normal? What’s..”   
  
The teenager started to slowly get up and Steven backed up behind Amethyst, wishing he could summon his shield right now. He was a bit better at it than before, but it was still a very precise thing. 

“Nngh..” The teen sat up, rubbing his face and picking out a few splinters. Steven gasped softly. He kinda looked like him..   
  
“Hey!” Amethyst yelled, gripping her whip harder. The teen met her eyes and blinked a few times.   
  
“Oh! Uh.. hey, Amethyst.. Sorry, I.. sorry, I messed w.. Wait.” He squinted. “Why are you.. Dressed like that?”   
  
“What? Dude, how do you know me? Also, rude! I look great!” Amethyst growled.   
  
“How do- what?? We’re family? I’ve lived with you for the past-” He chuckled awkwardly and got up. “What? Like.. 5 years?”   
  
“Family..?” Amethyst frowned. “I don’t.. Know you.”

Steven peeked out from behind Amethyst. Was.. this like.. His brother? A weird brother he had no idea he had..?   
  
The teen looked hurt. “Amethyst.. I- uh..” They met eyes.   
  
Steven waved nervously. Amethyst pushed him behind her.    
  
The teen paled. “Oh. Oh  **God** . Oh, no!!” He started to breathe faster. “Amethyst! Oh god, I- I think I’m in the past!!”   
  
“Stop saying things that don’t make sense!!”   
  
“I’m Steven Universe! From the future! I was messing with your time thing and then.. I guess I’m here!” He looked around on the floor for something. Steven gasped and jumped out from behind Amethyst. “You’re me from the future?? Like.. like with the Time Glass?”   
  
“Yes! I am!”   
  
Amethyst put away her whip and facepalmed. “Oh, man, don’t tell me there’s more of you..”   
  
Older Steven looked behind the kitchen island. “No, no. Only me. Do you see that janky time glass you picked up? Do you have it?”   
  
“Uh.. Yeah. I have it..” Amethyst scratched the back of her neck uncomfortably. “Man, this is so weird.. Why.. are you even here?”   
  
“Yeah!” Steven chimed in. “Doesn’t.. Trying to change time stuff make things worse? I thought I knew this already..”   
  
Older Steven frowned. “Uh. This was an accident.”   
  
“Oh.”   
  
Amethyst sighed. “Whatever.. You two can figure this out.. I’m gonna go to my room.” She turned around. Steven frowned. “Wait! You gotta take the quiz!”   
  
Her room opened up, Garnet standing inside. Amethyst gasped, offended. “Garnet!! What are you doing in my room!?”

“I saw a corrupted gem-”   
  
The door closed.

Steven looked up at older Steven.

“So.. um..” Steven bit his lip. “Hi.”   
  
“Hey. Sorry. This must be weird for you.”   
  
“It is.”   
  
“.... I didn’t mean to come he-”   
  
“I know.. It’s okay! Uh.. hey! You- uh.. Wanna take this online quiz?”   
  
“What? No. I gotta get home.” Older Steven walked past him. “And for that, I’ll need the glass from Amethyst’s room.

“Oh! Okay.. Can.. I help you find it?”   
  
“Um. Sure. C’mon.”   
  
Steven smiled and walked behind him as they entered her room. He felt a little weird just carrying on like this when him, a much, much, older him, just popped randomly into their living room. But.. he’s seen weirder. There was no use making a big deal out of it.   
  
“--Why don’t you just let me look for it?” Amethyst asked, her voice coming in as they entered the room. “Beca-”   
  
“Hey, guys?”   
  
Amethyst turned around and huffed. “Oh, great, what do you want, future boy?”   
  
Garnet turned and faced Older Steven, paling. “Uhhhhhh..”   
  
“Hey, Garnet.” Older Steven said sheepishly. “I’m.. Steven. From the future. I’m just trying to get home.. Sorry, I didn't mean to drop in.”   
  
Garnet was silent for a few seconds before shaking her head to clear it then nodding. “Uh. Right.. O-okay.. You mean.. with the.. Time glass?”   
  
“Yep. I need Amethyst’s janky one to get home. Mind if I tag along to get it? Really sorry about this.”   
  
“No problem. We’ll need help finding The Slinker.”

“You guys saw The Slinker??” Steven gasped. Amethyst groaned. “Ugh, I thought we weren’t gonna call it that?”   
  
“Yes, we did. But now it’s undeniable that Steven’s name stuck. Let’s go.”   
  
Garnet walked ahead of them, into the depths of Amethyst’s room. Amethyst rolled her eyes, following behind. Then it was himself and older him at the end of the pack.   
  
“... Hey.” Steven tugged on older him’s jacket. Older him looked down. “Uh, hey? What’s up?”   
  
“.... If we’re both Steven, what should I call you?”   
  
“Huh?”   
  
“Like.. Both our names are-”   
  
“Oh! Uh.. I dunno. Steven Two?” Steven Two shrugged.   
  
Steven frowned. “Nah.. Too long.. Uh..”   
  
“How about Twoie?” Amethyst called. “Two, but, like.. With an e to make it catchy.”   
  
“Oh! Great!” Steven smiled. Twoie rolled his eyes. “I’m not gonna be here long, you don’t need to name me.”   
  
“Too late.” Garnet said. Twoie scoffed.   
  
The group came to a halt as Garnet lifted up a massive pile of junk, revealing a hole underneath. Steven hummed. “How long’s this thing been in here?”

Ignoring his question, Amethyst squealed and picked up a gas mask. “Look, Steven!” She grinned, covering her face and breathing through it to make the tube wiggle. “I’m a pachyderm!”   
  
Steven laughed. Good old silly Amethyst to lighten the mood.    
  
“Oh! And there’s a prize inside!” She smiled, pulling out a human skull from inside it. Steven gasped.   
  
“Shh!” Garnet hissed. “Keep quiet.”

Amethyst groaned. They kept walking. 

“Hey, Amethyst?” Twoie called. Amethyst looked back. “What?”   
  
“Do you know where your-”   
  
“My janky time thing? No, I don’t. Do I  _ look  _ organized to you?”

Twoie frowned. “Was just asking a question..”

“Yeah, well, we’re trying to find the Slinker right now, so shush. You can look for it later or something.”   
  
Twoie groaned and caught up to the group, still looking around the massive piles of junk. Steven wanted to tell him he’d never find it in this mess, but decided against it, thinking that would be too negative. 

He gasped. That reminded him of Split Milk! Always negative..   
  
“Hey! Amethyst! Wanna continue the quiz?”   
  
“Ugh, Steven, I don’t even watch that show.”   
  
“Awe, c’mon!”   
  
“Why don’t you just ask..” Amethyst hummed and then gasped. “Oh! Ask Twoie! He watches it!”   
  
“What?” Twoie looked up at the mention of his name. Steven grinned. “Oh! Right! You probably know the show! Oh, man, I wonder what I’m gonna be.. Uh.. how old are you?”   
  
“Seventeen.”   
  
“Whoa! You’re super old!”   
  
“I’m.. not  _ that  _ old-”   
  
“Yeah, you are!” Amethyst snorted.

Twoie rolled his eyes again. Steven squinted. Was that a teenage thing?   
  
“Uh, let me just reset the quiz for you!” He reloaded the page and clicked on “Start”

“Okay, so.. Do you ever act without thinking?”   
  
Twoie hummed in thought. “Uh.. No.”

“Are you afraid of taking risks and trying new things?”

“Maybe.”   
  
“They’re yes or no questions!!”   
  
“Uh.. I.. Don’t know.”   
  
“Just pick one, dude!” Amethyst called. 

“Fine, uh.. Yes. I guess. Maybe.”

The Slinker chattered in the distance, drawing the attention of all four of them.   
  
“There!” Garnet hissed, jumping forward and then blasting her gauntlets off of her hands towards a pile of trash. It exploded on impact and Garnet came over to inspect her damage. Steven and Twoie ran behind Amethyst as they tried to catch up to Garnet.   
  
“Whoa, Mama! Did you get it?!” Amethyst gasped. 

“No.” Garnet replied.   
  
Amethyst jumped down the hole, digging around in the trash.   
  
“Aw, man.. I think my-”   
  
“WAIT!” Twoie shouted. Everyone jumped and turned towards him. Twoie jumped into the trash and started to fling some junk away, digging deeper.   
  
“HEY!! BE CAREFUL WITH MY JUNK!” Amethyst yelled. Twoie didn’t respond, just sitting back in horror.   
  
“... The time glass.” He picked it up, broken into five pieces with shards everywhere. “It’s broken..”   
  
“Oh, no.” Steven frowned. “Does.. does that mean you’re stuck here..?”   
  
Twoie looked back at him, eyes full of fear. “I.. I guess so.. I.. oh, man..”   
  
“Oh, dude..” Amethyst frowned, reaching out a hand to comfort him.   
  
“There might be a way to repair it.” Garnet said. Steven looked up at her. “Really??”   
“Yes.. there is a certain adhesive we can use to reattach the glass back together.”   
  
“Where is it?” Twoie asked.   
  
“I don’t know. I think Pearl knows, though. For now, we bubble the glass.” She stepped forward, bubbling all shards she could find. Twoie helped by pointing out glass. Steven hummed. It would be weird with two Steven’s around.. He hoped that they found that adhesive soon..

Amethyst huffed and laid back. “God, this is so  _ weird  _ and  _ boring _ .. We haven’t even seen i- wh-” She looked down as a long black tendril wrapped around her leg. She screamed, being pulled under the junk then poofed.

Steven and Twoie watched in horror. Steven rushed over to her gem and gasped. “Amethyst got poofed!!”

“Slinker!” Garnet said, looking around. 

Steven walked over to the gem and picked it up, feeling a familiar sadness in his heart. He hated seeing the gems get hurt like that.. At least this time he knew she was coming back.. It still hurt. What if.. What if she didn’t come back? What if that was only Pearl..? Oh, Pearl.. Amethyst might not be back for weeks! Maybe longer..    
  
He cradled her close and walked over to Garnet, holding the gem out. “G-g-g-garnet..?”   
  
“Steven, remember-- our bodies are only an illusion. Amethyst will be fine.”   
“Yeah, she’ll be okay. She’s sturdy.” Twoie interjected, patting Steven’s head timidly. Steven appreciated the gesture. “But.. Pearl took two whole weeks to come back!” He said to Garnet. “And..” He sniffled. “I already miss Amethyst so much!!”   
  
“She’ll be back soon.” Twoie said.   
  
Steven frowned. “How- how do  _ you  _ know?”

He felt the gem warm up in his hands and float off. Steven gasped and watched as Amethyst’s body warped into her new form in the sky. He beamed. Twoie was right!   
  
She appeared, long hair covering her body before she fell to the ground.    
  
“Amethyst’s back! Amethyst’s back!” He giggled, hugging her tightly. 

“Ugh.” She groaned, pushing him away with her newly grown feet in place of her arms. “Huh..?”

Steven laughed. “Looks like you..  _ Grew a few feet  _ since I last saw you!”

“That was fast.” Garnet deadpanned, walking up behind them. “Even for you.”   
  
Twoie looked off to the side, uncomfortably thumbing the lining of his jacket.

“Eh!” Amethyst replied, blushing. “It’s.. no big deal! I don’t wanna keep my biggest fan waiting~” She stood on her leg arms, giving Steven a look. Steven laughed, she looked so silly!

They goofed off for a bit before returning to the hunt. She cartwheeled off and Steven tried to do the same, but couldn’t. He caught Twoie out of the corner of his eye and hummed. “Hey.. Twoie!”   
  
“Huh?” He turned around.   
  
“Can you make your arms legs like Amethyst did?”   
  
“Uh.. Sure, I could. Why?”   
  
“Do it!!” Steven grinned. “Oh, oh! Wait! Show  _ me  _ how to do it!”

Garnet huffed and left. Twoie trailed weakly behind. Steven followed.   
  
“I.. I dunno. I’ve never tried it.”   
  
“C’mon!!”   
  
“.... Fine. Why not.” Twoie shrugged and shut his eyes. His arms were enveloped in a pink light before materializing as feet. Steven laughed. “Do a cartwheel!”   
  
“This is.. Stupid.” Twoie frowned. Steven’s laughter died down slightly. “Um.. oh.” He frowned. Was.. Twoie annoyed with him? Why?   
  
“HEY!! OVER HERE!!” Amethyst shouted from across the cave. Twoie shapeshifted his arms back and then walked over. Steven frowned. He wanted to shapeshift..

They went into the tunnel. Steven looked over Amethyst’s form again and smiled.    
  
“Your new form is really interesting.”

“Thanks, Steven.”   
  
“I didn’t even know you  _ could  _ come back this different!”

“Thanks, Steven.”

“So.. why’d you choose to have four legs?”   
  
“Because I like walking!” Amethyst growled.   
  
“Wow, I want four legs!” He said to Garnet. Maybe she could help him shapeshift!   
  
“No, you don’t. Amethyst rushed her regeneration. She should’ve taken her time.”   
  
“Like Pearl?”   
  
Twoie scrunched up in the corner.   
  
“Yes, Pearl put a bit more.. Thought. Into how she came back.” Garnet affirmed. 

“Pearl, _ Pearl, Pearl! _ You know I can  **hear** you!! I’m sorry I’m not like  **Pearl** with her fancy form! And her clean room with no monsters in it!”

“Amethyst, calm down.. You’re fine the way you are..” Twoie mumbled. Amethyst narrowed her eyes at him, offended. “Wh-”   
  
The slinker crashed down into the tunnel, taking Amethyst with it. Steven ran over to the hole, calling down. “Amethyst??”   
  


They hopped down and Steven saw her gem, running over. “She got poofed again!”   
  
“This is a good opportunity for her. Now, she can make a better form.”

\----

“Didn’t ANYONE tell nature how I want it to look??”   
  
Steven laughed. That sounded exactly like Pearl!   
  
“Amethyst, stop it.” Twoie piped in. “This isn’t funny. Take your regeneration seriously.”   
  
Amethyst stared at him, then scoffed. “I.. uh.. I take _ everything seriously!”  _ She said in her Pearl accent, twirling around. “Why wouldn’t I?”   
  
Twoie frowned. “Because you’re not. It’s okay to be honest about your feelings, Amethyst.”

Steven looked up at Twoie. “...”   
  
A silence shrouded the cave. Twoie blushed. “Um.. Sorry.”   
  
“Yeah.” Amethyst huffed. “Don’t  _ psycho-analyze  _ me, Steven.”   
  
Steven looked between them. Did.. did Twoie know something he didn’t? That was so weird and.. Cryptic.   
  
“He’s right, you know.” Garnet said after a moment. “This isn’t a good choice for your form.”

Amethyst grit her teeth. “Ugh! Can’t you people take a joke?”   
  
“It isn’t funny.”

\----

“Yo Ste-man! My seams straight?”   
  
Steven stared, hugging Garnet’s leg harder. The veins bulging out of her skin disturbed him. She didn’t even have blood..   
  
“D-does that new form.. Hurt you?”

Amethyst furrowed her brows, looking to the side in confusion then back at him. “...No.”

“Uh.. Hey, Twoie!!” Amethyst grinned. “How about this? This a good form? ‘Cause I feel  _ great _ !”

“Amethyst..” Twoie frowned, taking a step forward. “Please.. Take this seriously.. We.. we can talk about your feelings later, if you want.”   
  
“What??” Amethyst backed up.   
  
“I know you feel bad right now.. We can talk, later, if you want. That’s.. That’s all I'm saying. You don’t have to be.. Different. You’re fine the way you.. You are, okay?”   
  
Amethyst recoiled, face heating up. “Wh- d-don’t psycho-analyze me, Steven!! Stop trying to therapy me!!”   
  
Twoie held his hands up in surrender and backed off. Steven stared at him. “Twoie.. What’s.. Going on? Do you know?”   
  
“Yeah.” He sighed.   
  
“No you don’t!” Amethyst yelled. “You don’t know NOTHIN’ about me!! NONE of you do!! Let’s just.. GET THIS OVER WITH!!”   
  
Steven cowered behind Garnet’s leg as she ran off and punched up the crystals in the cave, roaring like an animal. Twoie sighed.   
  
Garnet glanced at him before running off. Steven came after her.

\----

Steven caught her gem. He sighed and looked up at Twoie.   
  
“Is.. she gonna be okay?”   
  
“Yeah.” Twoie nodded. “She will be.”   
  
Garnet ruffled up his hair in agreement. Steven smiled. 

They headed out of Amethyst’s room, opening the door. Inside, Pearl was making lunch for Steven. Steven opened his mouth to say something, but then realized the stranger beside him wasn’t familiar to Pearl. Before he could think of what to say, she looked up.   
  
“Oh, hey, St-”   
  
Her and Twoie met eyes.   
  
“.... Who.. who is that.” Pearl pointed shakily.    
  
“Pearl.” Garnet said, stepping forward and grasping Twoie on the shoulder to show he was safe. “This is Steven. From the future. He accidentally travelled here with the timepiece that Amethyst picked out a while ago. I know it’s weird, but he isn’t dangerous.”   
  
Twoie waved awkwardly. Steven nodded along with Garnet. 

Pearl nodded slowly. “Ah.. oh.. Oh no.. are there more of you..?”   
  
“No.” Twoie said. “Just me this time. Hehe.”   
  
“Oh, thank stars..” Pearl sighed. “I’m not sure I could handle that again.. Uh.. well! Steven-”   
  
“We call him Twoie!! Steven interjected. Pearl furrowed her brows. Twoie chuckled awkwardly. “He.. he called me that because I’m ‘Steven Two’ but Amethyst shortened it to ‘Twoie’..”   
  
“Okaay..” Pearl looked him up and down. “I like the jacket.”   
  
“Thanks.”   
  
“Wait.” Pearl turned off the stove. “Where’s Amethyst?”   
  
Steven held out her gem. “She got poofed by the slinker.”

“I knew that thing was real!!” Pearl asserted. “When Amethyst gets back, we have to go find it.”

\----

“Welcome back!” Steven hugged her tightly.   
  
“Well done, Amethyst!” Pearl joined.

“Knock it off!” Amethyst chided. Garnet hugged her and she grunted. “We gotta go find the slinker!”

“No! It’s hug time.”   
  
“Ugh.. this is so dumb..” Amethyst blushed, looking off to the side.

Steven opened his eyes to look up at her, but caught them on Twoie instead. He was leaning against the kitchen island, looking out the window sadly. Steven frowned. “Hey.. it’s hug time.. That means you, too, future me.”   
  
The gems looked up at him. Twoie snapped to their attention. “Uh.” He blushed. “Are.. are you sure?”   
  
“Yeah!” Steven beamed. Twoie looked away, unsure. Garnet smirked and extended her arm, yanking him in. Twoie gasped, collecting himself before laughing and joining the hug pile.


	2. Between Reformed and Sworn to the Sword

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Steven introduces Beach City to Twoie.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> btw this isn't beta read

“So.. how do we get him back?” Amethyst asked from the couch. Steven stuffed some more of his lunch in his mouth and looked up at Garnet. “Garnet said that Pearl knew how!”

Pearl winced. “Steven, chew with your mouth closed. I don’t wanna see your food.”    
  
Steven huffed and shut his mouth.

“But.. yes.” Pearl answered. “I might know how to fix the time piece.. We need to find this special adhesive to stick it together.”   
  
“Where do we find this?” Twoie asked.   
  
“Um.. I believe in the same place where we found the time piece itself.. But that was destroyed..”   
  
“I’ll go search.” Garnet said, tapping her face and making goggles appear. “I’m a very good swimmer.”   
  
“Okay, Garnet. You search there. I’ll try and think up some more solutions.” Pearl said.   
  
Garnet nodded and they both walked onto the warp pad, teleporting off to wherever in a blue flash of light. Steven finished his lunch and got up.    
  
“Soooooo.. Twoie..”   
  
“Yeah?”   
  
“Do.. you wanna meet my dad? And get donuts?”   
  
“What?? Why? I.. I already know my dad.”   
  
“No, but.. I mean.. I want him to know you!! Because it’d be cool.”   
  
“...”   
  
“... and it’d be less explaining later.”   
  
“Ah. Alright. Though.. I’m not sure anyone else should know I’m you from the future other than the gems, Connie, and dad.”

“So.. what will we be?” Steven started to walk away, wanting to go already. He watched as Twoie got up and followed him out the door.   
  
“Uh.. I dunno. Relatives?”   
  
“Like brothers!”   
  
“Cousins. That way it makes sense that they’ve never heard of me.”

“Why not both?”

**_“No!”_ ** Twoie flushed. “No. No. Okay, fine, brothers. Whatever. I’m your older brother.”   
  
“Okay!” Steven smiled. He was starting to get used to this older version of him, but he was still such a stranger. He grabbed his jacket sleeve and dragged him off to The Big Donut. Twoie pulled his sleeve out from Steven’s grasp and walked next to him with his hands in his pockets. Steven frowned. Why was he so stand-offish? He was kinda like Lars.. oh, god, is that just how all teenage boys are?? He shuddered at the thought of being as grumpy as Lars as he pushed open the door to the Big Donut. 

“Hey Lars, hey Sadie!!” Steven called out, prancing into the store and looking at all the donuts.    
  
“Hey, Ste-” Sadie started to greet, then froze. “Uh.. hello.. Sir.” She squinted at Twoie. Lars looked over and choked on his donut, taking off his headphones. “THERE’S  **TWO** OF YOU!?”   
  
Steven laughed. Twoie smiled, a twinkle of nostalgia and happiness in his eyes. “Hey, La- uh.. You. I’m Steven’s.. Big brother.”   
  
“Oh!” Sadie raised her eyebrows. “Well, nice to meet you! I’ve.. never seen you around before, uh..”   
  
“Yeah, I’m.. uh.. Off in college most of the time in Ocean Town.”   
  
“College? You look fifteen.” Lars scoffed.   
  
“I’m- uh- older than  _ that _ .” Steven huffed. “I just look young ‘cause I’m half gem. Growin’s weird for me.”   
  
“Half gem? Like Steven? I thought.. He only got the one gem from his mom?” Sadie asked.   
  
Twoie shrugged. “I dunno. Gem biology’s weird.”   
  
“Yeah, like Steven.” Lars sneered. Steven pouted. Twoie crossed his arms. “Hey, don’t be mean to Steven, man.”   
  
Lars looked up, pausing for a second before scoffing and putting back on his headphones.   
  
“So.. Steven’s older brother, what’s your name?” Sadie asked.   
  
“Uh..”   
  
“Twoie!” Steven answered. Twoie frowned at him.   
  
“Too-ie?” Sadie quirked her mouth to the side and then chuckled. “Well, alright. I’ve heard weirder names.”   
  
“Like what?” Steven asked.   
  
“One kid came in and his name was Banjo. It was ridiculous.”    
  
Twoie snorted, covering his mouth when he laughed. Steven snickered, too, but felt kinda bad making fun of someone for their name.

“You can’t really blame him, though.” Sadie finished. “It’s his parent’s fault.”   
  
“Isn’t everything?” Twoie chuckled. Sadie tilted her head in confusion and Steven frowned. What did that mean?   
  
“Anyways..” Twoie brushed off his comment. “Can I have a Classic Dewey?”   
  
“Uh.. what?”    
  
“A.. oh.” Twoie blushed. “Sorry. A s-strawberry donut with sprinkles.”   
  
“Okay. And for you, Steven?”   
  
“Uhhhh- I want a chocolate covered one.”

“Okay.” Sadie leaned down and got both donuts from the display. “Separate bags?”   
  
“Yeah.” Twoie said. Sadie complied and slid him both bags. 

“That'll be $3.59.” She said. Twoie reached into his pocket and pulled out a wallet with a picture of a forest on it. Steven gasped. A wallet.. He had money! Wow, what an _adult_ thing..   
  
“Here you go.” He handed her $5 and Sadie handed him back the change. Twoie slid Steven both bags and walked away, putting the change in his wallet.   
  
“Bye Steven! Bye Twoie!” Sadie called. Lars waved nonchalantly. Steven waved back and Twoie just smiled at them, the twinkle in his eyes. Steven liked seeing that twinkle. He wondered what it was about..   
  
He sat down on a bench and pulled the donut out of his bag, taking a bite out of it. Twoie stopped on the boardwalk and quirked a brow. “Uh.. why’re we stopping? Aren’t we gonna see dad?” 

“Yeah, but the sun is pretty!”   
  
Twoie looked towards the sunset. His shoulders slackened. “Huh. It is..”   
  
Steven patted the spot next to him and Twoie sat down, pulling the donut out of his bag and eating it. They ate for a good bit in silence before Steven finally felt the need to speak.   
  
“So.. what’s the future like?”   
  
Twoie’s eyes clouded over for a second in a mixture of fear, sadness, and surprise. He got rid of that sheen and leaned back. “Um..” He swallowed his donut. “... Easier, I suppose. Not many people to fix anymore.”   
  
“... People to 'fix'? How are.. They broken?”   
  
“You haven’t had to fix anyone yet?”   
  
“No..? That sounds weird.”   
  
“Heh. Good for you.” Twoie snoofed cynically. “But, uh, basically.. Less people to fight.”   
  
“Oh, that’s good.”   
  
“Yeah.. but.. Everything’s changing, too. It’s weird. But.. um.. I’m cool with it. No big deal.”   
  
“How’s it changing?”   
  
“.... Lars and Sadie don’t work at The Big Donut anymore.”

_ “WHAT!? WHERE ELSE COULD THEY WORK??”  _

“Uh.. Sadie’s in a cool band and Lars is.. Travelling.”   
  
“Oh.. huh.. How do they see each other?”   
  
“Dunno. That’s.. That’s their business.” 

“Aw, c’mon, aren’t you curious?”   
  
“... yeah. Maybe.. Maybe I’ll ask Lars when I see him again. I dunno.” He frowned and looked down at the waves. Steven frowned. “... What’s wrong?”   
  
“Huh?”   
  
“You’re.. Like.. sad.”   
  
“I’m not. I’m fine. Don’t worry.”   
  
“.... Are you sure?”   
  
“Yeah. And I don’t wanna get into it anyways.”   
  
“So, you are sad?”   
  
“I don’t wanna get into it.”   
  
“... Well..” Steven looked down at his donut. “I’m here for when you wanna 'get into it'.. And.. um.. Until then, let’s just.. Keep talking!”   
  
“Sounds good.”   
  
“...” Steven sighed. He didn't know what to say now.

A silence stretched over them.

“So. Uh..” Twoie said. “Um.. The future’s cool, I guess. I can drive now.”   
  
“Oh!!!! Cool!!!!” Steven beamed. “I can’t wait to drive! How is it? Hard?”   
  
“It was. But now it’s easy. I like my car. Small, sleek, and has a tape deck. And.. since it’s old, you can actually lay on it and look up at the stars..”   
  
“Oh, wow.. Just like in those movies..” Steven awed. “That’s really cool. I can’t wait for the future.”   
  
“Enjoy now while it lasts, Steven.” Twoie wiped his mouth of crumbs and stood up. “You don't know the good days are gone until you’ve lived past them.”   
  
Steven felt a chill walk down his spine. He stared as Twoie threw away his bag in a nearby trash can. He held out his hand to Steven. Steven stared at it. “... uh-”   
  
“Give me the bag so I can throw it away.”   
  
Steven nodded slowly and handed it to him. Twoie threw it away and began walking along the boardwalk to the car wash. Steven forced himself to move and followed after.    
  
“... What.. what did that mean?”

“What did what mean?”   
  
“‘You don't the good days are gone until you’ve lived past them’?”

“Ah, just some advice. I dunno. While I’m stuck here, I figure I should try and.. Make things better. If I can.”   
  
“...” Steven mouthed a few unfinished words and then shut his mouth. “Hm.” Weird, unsettling, advice.. But advice nonetheless.

They arrived at Greg’s van after a few minutes. Twoie knocked on the back of the van’s doors. There was some shuffling in the van before Greg burst out, wielding a waffle iron. “Who.. oh.” He rubbed his eyes. “Hey.. uh..” He squinted. “Wait.. oh..” He yawned. “Sorry, can I help you, young man..? The car wash isn’t open until 7..”   
  
“Dad! This is Twoie!” Steven said. Greg cheered up after hearing Steven’s voice and smiled down at him, grabbing him and putting him on his knee. “Hey, Schtu-ball! What’s up?”   
  
“This is Twoie!”   
  
Greg looked up at Twoie and waved. “Hey! I’m Greg, Steven’s dad.”   
  
Twoie smiled awkwardly and laughed breathily. “Um.. Hey. I’m Steven, your son, also.”   
  
Greg’s eyes went wide and he looked over Twoie. Twoie lifted up his shirt and Greg clutched his chest, staring blatantly at the gem.   
  
“He’s me! From the future!” Steven said.   
  
“Oh, geez..” Greg rubbed his head. “Uh.. oh.. Wow. This is..”   
  
“I know, crazy, right?” Twoie laughed, sitting down next to Greg. Greg scooted away. Twoie frowned. “Um.. Sorry. This is weird for you, right?”   
  
“... Yep.”   
  
“... Well, Steven just wanted me to see you, so..” He looked away, hands stuffed in his pockets. Greg pressed his lips together and smiled uncomfortably. “So.. uh.. Okay.. uh- Steven?” He whispered to him. “Why and how is he here..?”   
  
“He came here on accident and we don’t know how to get him back.” Steven stated. “So he’s staying here! Also, we’re saying we’re brothers. So if anyone asks, you have two sons!”   
  
Greg blinked and looked back down at Twoie. “Heh. I.. Guess I do? Uh- touching you won’t make a paradox, right?”   
  
“It won’t.” Twoie said flatly. Greg pat his hair.    
  
“Oh, dad! Let me tell you about yesterday!” Steven said. Greg perked up. “Oh? What happened yesterday, Schtu-ball?”   
  
“Well, me and Amethyst were taking an online quiz.. And she..” Steven trailed off as he saw Twoie get up and walk away from the van. 

“Twoie? Where.. Are you going?”   
  
Twoie looked back, surprised. “Um. Uh.. well, I just.. I don’t think I really belong here, y’know..? Y- I mean.. Heh- you hate gem stuff, right, dad?”   
  
Greg’s eyebrows furrowed and he looked at Steven empathetically. “Well.. I don’t  _ hate  _ it. I just don’t understand it..”   
  
“.... Well. I mean.. I dunno. Don’t I count as ‘gem stuff’?” Twoie laughed weakly, then turned away. Greg put down Steven for a second. “No.. you.. No. Come here, Steven.”   
  
Twoie turned around, eyebrows furrowed. Greg smiled, tilting his head and patting the seat next to him. “You’re still my son, right? C’mon, I bet you.. You got tons of stories from the future.”   
  
Twoie blinked, eyes shining with the sun. “.... Okay.”   
  
He came over and sat inside the van timidly, like he didn’t belong. Steven noticed he seemed to be like that wherever he was.. It put him on edge. Greg came inside the van and pulled Steven in, shutting the doors and leaning back.    


“So.. Steven, what happened yesterday?”   
  
Steven looked up and smiled. “Uh- right! So..”

Steven recounted the days events, going through Twoie’s landing in the past, the Slinker, Amethyst’s reforming and her eventually thinking about herself and reforming in a good way. Greg got nervous at some parts and laughed at others. All in all, he enjoyed it, and he also took the Crying Breakfast Friends quiz! He got Pining Grapefruit, which seemed about right. Twoie also took the quiz, but refused to answer the questions out loud.

“Here.” Twoie handed him the phone. Steven’s grin vanished as soon as he saw the result. “... Did you answer them all honestly?”   
  
“Yeah.”   
  
“Oh, man.. Glum Glass? That’s so sad.. He’s, like, the troubled and lonely guy haunted by his tragic past..”   
  
Twoie paled. “Oh. Ehe.. m-maybe it’s wrong.”   
  
“I dunno..”   
  
“It’s probably wrong!”   
  
“Okay! Take it again.”   
  
“I’m good, thanks.”

Steven frowned and put the phone in his pocket. “Okay..”   
  
“So.. ‘Twoie’.. You got any..  _ Cool  _ news from the  _ future _ ?” Greg prompted Twoie. “Flying cars? Hover boards?”   
  
“I’m only, like, three years in the future from you guys.” He chuckled.   
  
“A lot can happen in three years!” Steven said. 

“Yeah! I lost my hair in three years.” Greg chuckled. Steven laughed and Twoie giggled. “Yeah.. okay. Uh..”   
  
He thought.   
  
“Well.. gems are integrated with human society! A lot of people are happier.. Um.. everyone’s moving on to bigger and better things.. And.. uh..” He shook his face of his frown. “I have a lot of new friends! A-and.. Me and Connie are.. Um..” He blushed. 

“Still really great friends??” Steven guessed. “Oh, man, I was worried about that..”   
  
Twoie snickered. “Uh- yes.  _ Very  _ good friends.”

Greg raised his eyebrows and smirked. “Oh-ho.. Ladies man..”   
  
Twoie scoffed playfully and waved him off.

Steven looked between them. Huh?? What was he missing? 

“Weren’t you gonna tell us a story from the future, Twoie?” Greg asked. Twoie shrugged. “Maybe..”   
  
“Oh! Yeah! C’mon! Tell us a story!” Steven grinned. “Pleeeassseee??”   
  
“Fine, fine.. I don’t have many that aren’t complicated and weird, though.. Uh- hm.”

He thought for a while and then started to tell them about him babysitting Onion with Pearl. How Onion was such a handful and only liked Rainbow Quartz 2.0, not one or the other. His weird tendencies, his strange mannerisms.. It disturbed Steven and Greg both but it was hilariously disturbing. 

“And then, he just ate the frog! Whole! Oh, god, I almost split!”   
  
Steven and Greg cracked up. Steven wiped his eye and snorted. “Gross!!!”   
  
“Yeah, man, who knew Vidalia’s kid was so  _ weird _ !”

“I knew.” Twoie chuckled. Greg kicked him playfully with his foot. Twoie kicked back and blew a raspberry at him. “Oh, you goof!” Greg grabbed Twoie and ruffled his hair. Twoie squealed and squirmed to get out of it, laughing on the floor of the van.   
  
Eventually, everything calmed down and Greg sighed. “Alright.. It’s getting late, you two. I gotta get to bed.”   
  
“Awe!!” Steven whined. “But we didn’t get to play together!”   
  
“Maybe another time, Steven, I’m sorry.”   
  
“Aw..”   
  
Twoie hummed. “I.. could play with you, if you liked.”   
  
Steven gasped. “Yeah!! Let’s play together at home!! C’mon!” He hopped out of the van, pulling Twoie along with him. “Bye dad!” He called. Greg waved and Twoie waved back before they went off to the house. Halfway there, Steven skidded to a stop. Twoie stumbled and almost fell on him. “Whoa! What is it?”   
  
“I gotta call Connie!! I want her to know about you, too.”   
  
“Oh. uh. Okay. Can we walk and talk, though?”   
  
“Sure!” Steven pulled out his phone and dialed her. She picked up after a few rings. 

“Hey, Steven!” She said. “What’s up?”   
  
“Connie! You’ll never believe who I met today..”   
  
“Oh! Was it a new gem??”   
  
“No!! It was me! From the future!”   
  
**_“What??”_ **

“I know, right? Here, you can talk to him.” He handed the phone to Twoie. Twoie took it and cleared his throat. “Hey, Connie.. It’s Steven! From the future.”   
  
“... Steven, this is a weird prank.”   
  
“It’s not a prank. We’re just telling you so you’re not weirded out later.”

“How do I know it’s not just Steven doing a weird voice? Tell me.. Something Steven wouldn’t know!”   
  
“Your parents are Priyanka and Doug Mahaeswaran, your mother doesn’t know you have a sword yet, your mom works at the hospital, your favourite colour is green.. You really like sunrises and you’ve always wanted to be in one of those fantasy books and movies.. Saving the world and stuff.. And you really love Unfamiliar Familiar! Oh! And Under the Knife. Also, sometimes, you listen to songs with curse words when your parents aren’t around.”   
  
“.... Whoa.”   
  
Twoie blushed. “Ah, sorry, Connie. I kinda rambled. But.. that’s all that came to my head. You and I a-are really good friends in the future, so.. Don’t worry, I’m not, like, stalking you or.. Whatever. You told me all that stuff.”   
  
“That’s so cool! How old are you? Are you still gonna be at Steven’s house tomorrow? Are you even  _ at  _ his house?

"I’m seventeen, and yes.”

“Whoa.. cool.. Uh- I can’t wait to meet you! Uh- oh. Shoot, sorry. My mom’s telling me to do my homework. I’ll see you two tomorrow!”   
  
She hung up.   
  
Twoie handed Steven back his phone and Steven pocketed it, walking back to the house.   
  
“Wow.. you know a lot about Connie.”   
  
“Yeah..”   
  
“That’s cool.. You guys are super close friends.”   
  
Twoie blushed. “Yeah.. really good..” He sighed dreamily, twirling a strand of curly hair between his fingers. 

Eventually, they got up to the house, where Garnet was waiting on the couch. They entered and she got up. “I have bad news.”   
  
“Oh, god.” Twoie paled.   
  
“I did not find the adhesive at the underwater temple. However, it is out there and Pearl believes that we can get it on another planet.”

“But, like..” Amethyst said through a mouthful of chips. “We can’t use the Galaxy Warp.”   
  
“We might have to if we want Steven home. Or find another way off planet.”   
  
Twoie nodded. “I see.. Okay, cool. That’s.. Not that bad, I guess.”   
  
Garnet smiled. “That’s the spirit. By the way, dinner is ready.”   
  
Steven hopped up on the stool and Twoie sat next to him. They dug in.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please leave a comment if u enjoyed!


	3. Sworn to the Sword

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Pearl begins training Connie to sword fight, but Twoie isn't so sure it's a good idea.

_ “The sun is bright, our shirts are clean, we’re sitting up above the sea, c’mon and share this jam with me~” _

_ “Peach or plum or strawberry: any kind is fine you see, c’mon and share this jam with me~” _

Connie stood, playing her violin softly. 

_ “I’ll do my best.. To give this jam the sweetness it deser~ves~” _

Steven grinned and hopped up, strumming his ukulele cheerily.

_ “And I’ll keep it fresh! I’m jammin’ on these tasty preser~ves!~” _

_ “Ingredients in harmony, we mix together perfectly, c’mon and share this jam with me!~”  _ They sang together. Steven plucked the final string of the song and cheered.   
  
“Whoo-hoo! Jam buds!!”

“Nice jam session.” Connie said, putting away her violin.    
  
“Don't forget the best part!~” Steven said, scooping up some strawberry jam and putting it on his biscuit. He opened his mouth to savour the treat.    
  
Seagulls called from beside him, diving towards his biscuit. Steven squeaked, closing his eyes.    
  
“Hyah! Yah!”    


Steven opened an eye, watching Connie swing her bow at the seagulls. 

“Run back to your masters!” She called as they flew away. “Tell them we’re not afraid of your kind!!”   
  
Steven giggled. “Thanks for saving my jam snack. Unfortunately, it’s not safe from me!” He said as the ate the biscuit. “Mm! You’re such a good sword fighter, Connie!”   
  
“Really?” She asked. “I was just swinging this thing around.. I don’t really know what I’m doing. But i’d  _ love  _ to learn how to use a real sword!”

“Oh!” Steven swallowed his biscuit. “Steven has an idea~! C’mon!” He stood up and stepped onto the warp pad. “We can go ask Pearl! She’s a really good swordfighter.”   
  
“Really?” Connie stepped onto the pad with him. They warped into the house.   
  
“Yeah! She tried to teach me once, but..” Steven shuddered. “It didn’t go well. But I’m sure you’ll be fine!”   
  
“What’re you two talking about?” Pearl called from the living room. Twoie was on the couch, playing a game on his phone and Pearl was reading a book. Steven grinned and raced over to her.   
  
“You should teach Connie how to sword fight!”   
  
Pearl jolted in surprise. “You want me to do what??”   
  
Twoie looked up, eyes tracing back and forth in their conversation.

“You should train Connie to sword fight! She’s already so good!”

“Steven!” Connie hissed at him, blushing.   
  
“But you are! Y-you helped me fight the robot floaty thing,” He turned to Pearl. “She took down that evil clone of herself, uh.. Those mean seagulls just now..”

“You’re awfully young to begin something like this. But, I suppose I was only a few thousand years old when I fought alongside Rose Quartz..”

Connie raised her hand.    
  
“Yes, Connie?” Pearl asked.   
  
“Please, I want to learn.” Connie begged, clasping her hands together. “I mean, I don't know what’ll happen in the future. But if something dangerous comes along, I don’t want to be a burden. I want to  _ help _ ! I wanna be  _ there  _ for Steven, to fight by his side! The Earth is my home, too.. Can’t I help protect it?”

“O-okay.” Pearl sniffled. She stood up and wiped her teary eyes. “If that’s how to feel, we should get started!”

“Wait.”   
  
Pearl, Connie, and Steven all turned to the couch. Twoie was sitting up, a hard to read but grave look on his face. “Pearl, can I talk to you for a moment?”   
  
“Um.. I’m kind of in the middle of something, Steven..”   
  
“It’s important. Very. Important.”   
  
“Uh.. okay..” Pearl tilted her head.    


Twoie stood up. “In private.”   
  
Pearl furrowed her brows and stared at him before shaking her head, clearing her mind. “Um. O.. okay? You.. kids wait here. Give us a moment.”   
  
Twoie led Pearl to the bathroom and locked the door. Steven and Connie looked at each other in shared confusion.

“Um.. what was that about? Also.. who was that?” Connie asked.    
  
“That was Twoie! My future self.”   
  
“Oh!” She gasped. “That makes sense! Cool! Wow.. he’s, uh, so tall.” She blushed. Steven crossed his arms. “I guess.”   
  
_ “I don't appreciate your tone, young man!” _ _   
_   
“But  **Pearl!** ”

Steven and Connie turned towards the bathroom. Steven furrowed his brows. What were they talking about in there..?   
  
Connie started to creep towards the bathroom. Steven gasped and grabbed her hand. “Connie! Don’t! That’s rude!”   
  
“But.. aren’t you curious..?”   
  
Steven pressed his lips together. “Mmm..”   
  
“C’mon.” She pressed, putting her ear up to the bathroom door. Steven sighed and did the same.

Twoie’s voice came muffled from behind the door.

“Pearl, please, listen to me. I’m not holding it against you, just please be  _ careful _ !”   
  
“I am careful! I’d never hurt Connie like that!”   
  
“But you do! You did! Please.. Just.. I’m not saying your teaching methods are wrong-”   
  
“It surely sounds like it.”   
  
Twoie groaned. “Pearl, c’mon. Please..”   
  
Silence.   
  
Pearl sighed. “... Well, maybe I’ll try. Though, I’m not how it’ll work out. It wasn’t the way I was taught.”   
  
“Was-”   
  
…   
  
“What? Was what, Steven?”   
  
“Nothing. Let’s just.. Go back out. I’m sure they’re getting worried. Just please..”   
  
“You don’t need to beg anymore. I get the message.”   
  
Connie and Steven gasped, feeling the door handle move. They ran from the door and sat near the table, trying to act casual. Pearl came out first, face murky and troubled. Twoie came out second, anxious.    
  
Connie and Steven shared a look. What was that about? 

Was sword fighting that dangerous? Was Pearl gonna get poofed again? Was.. was  _ Connie  _ going to get hurt? Would Pearl  **_hurt_ ** Connie?

No. No. She wouldn’t do that.

“C’mon, kids. Let’s go.” Pearl said, walking to the warp pad. Steven and Connie followed behind.   
  
“Hey.. do you guys mind if I.. tag along?” Twoie asked sheepishly.   
  
Pearl opened her mouth to object, but Connie cut her off.   
  
“Sure! We don’t mind. I- I mean.. It’d be nice to get to know you better and all.. And.. uh.. Yeah.”   
  
Steven smiled as an idea popped into his head. “Oh! Oh! And maybe you can teach me some stuff?”   
  
Pearl scoffed. “Oh, please, I doubt Steven.. Er.. Twoie is a sword fighter.”   
  
“I’m not, but I have a good handle on my powers.” Twoie said.   
  
“Can you summon your shield on  _ command _ ?” Pearl narrowed her eyes. Twoie smirked.    
  
“Watch this.”   
  
He flared his arms out, summoning two shields at once.    
  
“WHOA!!” Steven gasped. “TWO SHIELDS!?” 

Pearl hummed in interest. Connie watched in awe.   
  
“That’s not all..” Twoie winked. He unsummoned the shields and then made his hands into fists, two bubbles forming around them. Steven and Connie gasped. Then, he flexed his fists and the bubbles had sharp spikes.   
  
“Well.” Pearl exclaimed. “I guess.. You do know.. _some_. You can come.”   
  
“Yay!” Steven said as Twoie stepped onto the pad with them. In an instant, they were at the Sky Arena. Connie fell down and landed face first on the warp pad, giggling.   
  
“Whoa, you okay?” Steven asked, helping her up. “It can take some getting used to..”   
  
She laughed and jumped up, whooping in excitement. Steven laughed, finding her enthusiasm contagious.   
  
“Hey, you three, this way!” Called Pearl from the top of the steps.    
  
Connie smiled and raced up the steps. Steven and Twoie following behind.

They stopped when at the top of the stairs, looking over a tiled arena with colosseum like seats. It was broken in some places and clouds were thick around it. Steven bit his lip, remembering the last time he was here.   
  
“Whoa..” Connie awed.   
  
Pearl began to walk down the steps. “This is an ancient Sky Arena, Connie: where some of the first battles for Earth took place. It was here that I became familiar with the human concept of becoming a knight, completely dedicated to a person and a cause. This is what you must become, Connie-- Brave, selfless, loyal.. A  _ knight _ .” She unsheathed her saber and delicately put it in Connie’s hands, kneeling down.

Twoie sighed.   
  
“First, we must begin with a bow. First to me, your teacher..”

Connie bowed.   


“And now again to your liege.” She gestured to Steven. Steven smiled- this knight stuff sounded weird. 

“Okay, My  _ Liege _ .” Connie giggled, bowing to him. Steven puffed his chest out and bowed back. “Miss Knight.”

They snickered together while bowing. Pearl cleared her throat.   
  
“I hope you two are taking this seriously.”

“Yes, Ma’am!” Replied Connie.

“Mh-mm!” Steven nodded.

Pearl, taking that as a good answer, twirled around and summoned Holo-Pearl. Steven frowned, backing up a step. He didn’t like this.. Last time someone fought her, she stabbed them.   
  
“Cool, Hologram Pearl!” Connie awed. 

“To begin, this Holo-Pearl will be your opponent.” 

Holo-Pearl summoned her saber. 

_ “LEVEL ZERO. BEGINNER SET. DO YOU WISH TO ENGAGE IN COMBAT?” _ _   
_ _   
_ “Yes!!” Connie cheered. Steven gulped, his bubble forming around her. Twoie’s bubble also formed. 

“Uh.. Steven..s?” Connie looked between them. Twoie blushed and forced his away. Steven did the same.   
  
“Sorry, habit.” They said at the same time. They glanced at each other in surprise.

“U-um..” Steven turned back to Connie. “You uh- just.. Be careful? Okay? And I’ll just.. Go over there with Twoie.”   
  
Steven walked off to the right side of the arena, sitting down on one of the steps. He looked up and saw Twoie make his way over in front of him.   
  
“So, I guess I’m training you now, huh?” Twoie smiled awkwardly. Steven nodded. “Yeah! I.. I should get stronger, too.”   
  
“Mhmm. That’s true.” Twoie said, glancing over at Connie and Pearl.

“So.. uh.. What.. do you wanna know first?”   
  
“Oh!” Steven hopped up from his seat. “I wanna summon my shield!"

“Alright.. Come over here, then.”   
  
Steven walked over in front of Twoie. Twoie flicked out his arm and summoned his shield. “So, first, you gotta remember that.. All of your powers are tied to your emotions. Every single one. Which.. Kinda sucks, but whatever. Can’t do anything about it.” He shrugged. “

“So.. what do you feel to make the shield?” Steven asked, flicking out his arm like Twoie did. He huffed when nothing appeared and did it a few more times.    
  
“Steven, stop that.” Twoie chided, holding his arm. Steven blushed and looked down. “Um, sorry.”   
  
Twoie chuckled softly. “It’s okay. So.. about your question.. It’s more of a feeling of.. _Protection_. You wanna protect someone or something you love.. Or yourself! So.. just.. Imagine something dangerous, and then.. Focus that on the shield.    
  
Steven nodded, closing his eyes. His brain searched for something scary, something dangerous..   
  
Frybo, Cat fingers, Holo-Pearl..    
  
He whimpered and felt his bubble come up.   
  
“Oh, C’mon!!”   
  
“Hm.” Twoie frowned. “Maybe.. A projectile?” He summoned his shield. “Block this.”   
  
“Wh- AH!” Steven dodged to the side as the shield was flung at him. “TWOIE!!”   
  
“What? It won’t hurt you that bad. And if it does, we have healing spit, remember?”   
  
Steven crossed his arms. “Not cool.”   
  
“I don’t know what else to do, Steven. I’m.. not the best teacher.” He frowned. “... So.. um.. I dunno.”

“Well.. how did you learn?”

“Learn what?”   
  
“Your powers?”   
  
“They just happened. It takes practice, like driving a car, or playing an instrument. Though.. Those take skill. This is just muscle memory.”   


“Hmph.” Steven pouted, looking over at Pearl and Connie. Connie was fencing with Holo-Pearl, swinging and slashing with her saber. Steven blushed. “Wow..” She looked so pretty.. And dangerous. He hoped that he could be as cool as her someday..   
  
“Hm..” Twoie thought. Steven looked over. Twoie was scratching his chin, looking at Connie, too.   
  
“Y’know what? Imagine Connie’s right next to you.”   
  
“Uh- okay.” 

“Now imagine that I’m a monster.”   
  
“Okay.” Steven nodded, shutting his eyes and imagining Connie, next to him, almost having drowned-- oh. Guess the monster was Lapis. But that wasn’t fair.. He shook his head and imagined her standing next to him, scared. And Twoie was.. A big, green, ugly.. Monster.    
  
“You got it?”   
  
Steven nodded.   
  
“Now forget your bubble. Just, forget it for now. Think of your shield, your gem..”   
  
“Should I wave my arm like you?”   
  
“Uh- sure. Why not? Okay.. now..”   
  
Twoie summoned his shield. “Get ready.”

A few seconds passed by. Steven tilted his head. “Uh.. are you gonna-”

Twoie flung the shield at him and Steven shrieked, covering his face with his arm. He heard a loud, glittery, pang and then a twinkle.   
  
“HEY!! You did it!!” Twoie beamed. Steven opened his eyes and looked at him through his pink shield. He gasped, stars in his eyes.   
  
“I DID IT!! I SUMMONED IT!!”   
  
Twoie laughed, eyes twinkling too.

The next few days passed by quickly. Connie would come over, they’d all teleport to the Sky Arena, and train. Connie seemed to be getting better and Pearl was apparently a great teacher. Not that he ever doubted her. Twoie was, surprisingly, also a good teacher! His methods weren’t as educated as Pearl’s, but he knew what worked and they got results. By the second day, Steven was summoning his shield with more ease: Connie and Pearl were very proud of him and it made him feel proud, too. They all came together in a big group hug when he showed Pearl. Steven had to invite Twoie into the hug, but it ended up great. 

On the third night, Pearl showed them her war memories. Steven watched in amazement as fire burned in the background. He saw his mother, her saber and his/her shield out. Pearl defended her and the memory sparkled away as she easily brought down a Holo-Pearl. Steven looked back at Connie and Twoie to see their reactions. Connie looked amazed, like him, and Twoie..

Looked uncomfortably sad.

Steven didn’t ask him about it that night. But it stayed on his mind until tomorrow evening. It was snack time, and Steven had just gathered up the tray of orange slices and juice. He walked over to Connie and Pearl, holding up the tray to her.    
  
“Hey, Connie!”   
  
“Oh, hey, Steven.”

She walked over and grabbed the juice, taking a few sips. Pearl trailed behind her, a determined look in her eyes.    
  
“As I was saying.. What they don’t know, is your  _ real  _ advantage. When you live for a cause, you are prepared to  **die** for that cause.”

Connie nodded affirmatively, setting down her juice box. Steven paled, looking between them. What?? Die?? He opened his mouth to ask why-- they had already resumed training. Clashing swords and skilled, bandaged, hands.. Connie had so many bandages on her.. The most Steven had gotten hurt was when Twoie accidentally hit him in the head with his shield. 

He stood there for a few moments before walking away. He set down the tray of snacks and picked up an orange, putting the slice into his mouth and chewing, looking down at the tiles in thought..

Prepared to die? He didn’t want Connie to  **_die_ ** .. He didn’t even want her to get hurt! This training was supposed to prevent her from dying, not encourage it.. Was that just a weird tactic Pearl used to get her to fight stronger? The fear of death to fuel her to keep going? It must be that..   
  
“Hey, Steven.”   
  
Steven looked up as Twoie sat down next to him, grabbing an orange slice and popping it in his mouth. “What’s up?”   
  
“Um.. It- it’s nothing..”   
  
Twoie frowned. “Hey.. no, it’s not. You can, um.. You can talk to me. Share your feelings.”   
  
“Um.. okay.” Steven sighed. “I just.. I think Pearl’s teaching is.. Kinda weird? I mean, she’s a great teacher! But.. but, um.. She.. she said that Connie had to be prepared to die for.. A cause? I’m just.. That made me feel weird.”   
  
Steven waited for an answer. None came. He looked up at Twoie and tensed at his expression. Twoie was glaring at Pearl from across the arena, eyes narrowed and nostrils flared. He growled lowly and gripped his jacket.   
  
“Twoie..?”   
  
“What else did she say to her.”   
  
“I.. I don’t know. I haven’t.. Been listening.”   
  
“...” Twoie let out a deep breath and tensed his fists, punching the steps and getting up. He grumbled something to himself and summoned his shield. “Let’s keep training. I’ll talk to Pearl after this sh- uh- this.. Session. Whatever.”

“Are.. you okay?” Steven frowned. “W-was it me?”   
  
“What?? No! No!” Twoie stuttered. “Of course not! It’s not you at all.”   
  
“Then why’d you get so mad after I told you how I was feeling?”   
  
“It’s not how you are feeling. It’s.. what Pearl is doing.”   
  
“Teaching Connie?”   
  
“Yeah. She’s.. Ugh. We already  _ talked  _ about this. I just can’t  _ believe  _ her.”

“Is that what you guys were doing in the bathroom a few days ago?”   
  
“Yeah.” Twoie sighed, shoulders slumping. “I.. I told her to be careful. To not take this knight stuff too far.”   
  
He unsummoned his shield and sat down, head in his hand. He rubbed his cheek and glanced over at them. Steven sat down opposite him.   
  
“During the war.. Pearl prided herself in protecting Rose Quartz. She threw herself in battle again and again for her.. Because she.. Well, I don’t know exactly why.. But I think it’s because she.. She loved her. And Rose loved her, too. So.. So Pearl was her knight, and lived and died for her. Pearl thinks that that’s what Connie should do.. For you. Live and die for you.”   
  
“Die for me?” Steven paled.   
  
“But she’s wrong. Connie should live for her.. Herself. And the people she loves. She should matter- she DOES matter just as much as you.. I tried to convince Pearl to change her ways, but it seems that she’s still going to teach her that.. She doesn’t matter. That you’re most important.”   
  
Steven looked down at the tile beneath him. It showed a murky reflection of himself, split down the middle and cracked on the sides. The sunset shone behind them.   
  
“... Like mom?”   
  
“What?”   
  
“Like I’m mom? And Connie is Pearl? Like.. she.. She thinks..”   
  
“Oh. Um.. I guess that’s where Pearl is placing you two, yeah. But.. you’re not your mother..”   
  
“Then who am I?”   
  
“Steven.”   
  
“Uh- _duh_. But I mean in Pearl’s eyes.”   
  
“Oh.” Twoie blushed. “Ah- hehe. Sorry. Yeah. She’s placing you as Rose and Connie as herself. Which isn’t good.”   
  
“... mm..”   
  
“Hey, you two!!” Pearl called. They looked up, startled.    
  
“It’s time to head home!” 

Pearl walked out of the arena with Connie. Steven sighed. “I should talk to her.”   
  
“Yeah.” Twoie got up. “Make sure you do. Before it’s too late.”   


Ice ran through Steven’s veins and froze over his heart, making it skip a few beats.  **_Too late?_ **

“Wh- what do you--”   
  
Twoie was already at the steps, waiting for him. Steven took a few shaky breaths and got up, running to the steps and warping back with them. His head was too clouded to speak. Too late?? What did he mean? Was Connie going to DIE?? Like, soon? Is that why Twoie had been so desperate? Why he looked so mad? Was Holo-Pearl gonna stab Connie?   
  
These thoughts followed him to his bed, his nightmares, and then to the next morning. 

Steven was reading a book on how to talk to people, sitting at the table and waiting for Connie to arrive. She should be here any minute now, he thought, I just gotta wait. Then I’ll think of what I want to say.. And say it. Just like the book says.

He heard the front door open and hopped off from his seat, nerves buzzing.    
  
“Connie!!-”   
  
“Hey, Steven.” She greeted, walking past him to the warp pad. He gulped. “C-Connie! Wait!”   
  
“Huh?” She turned around. Pearl’s door opened in front of them; she stepped out and smiled. “Ah, right on time.”   
  
“Wait! W-we need to talk.” Steven stepped up to the warp pad.   
  
“Sure, what’s up?” Connie asked. Pearl huffed. “We have important training to do, Connie.”   
  
“Yes, Ma’am.”   
  
“She’s-”   
  
“Connie.”

Pearl glared. Twoie walked over to Connie and took her hand. “Um-” She said, being gently taken off the warp pad.

“Steve-  _ Twoie _ .” Pearl scolded. “We’re falling behind.”   
  
Twoie glared up at her and grit his teeth. Pearl faltered, expression turning into one of surprise.   
  
“Connie.. Me and Steven have something to tell you, okay?”   
  
“Oh.. O-okay?” Connie gulped, looking between them.   
  
Steven bit his lip. “Um.. I..”   
  
Twoie pressed his lips together. “Listen, Connie. You are important. You matter. You should fight for yourself and to protect the people you love and.. You should keep yourself safe, above most everything else.”   
  
“Uh.. okay?” Connie tilted her head to the side. “That’s.. Uh.. what Pearl’s been telling me.”   
  
“What?” Twoie recoiled. Pearl huffed.   
  
“Yeah! Well..” Connie hummed in thought. “E-except the last part. I know that.. I’m just a human. So, I probably will get hurt at some point. But if I’m going to die, I’m going to die protecting Earth! Dying for something I believe in! That.. that is what I’m for. And my safety.. Is secondary.”   
  
“What about me?” Steven asked.   
  
“What do you mea- Oh! My Liege? That.. well.. You are.. A Liege. Pearl says it’s unconventional, but.. I can have a purpose be what I’m serving! Not that I don’t wanna protect you.. But you’re not my only reason for fighting.”   
  
“Oh.” Twoie’s face went red and he let go of her. “I- I..”   
  
“Let’s go, Connie.” Pearl said, pulling her back to the warp. They warped off.   
  
Twoie sat down, dumbfounded. 

“So.. She’s not gonna die for me.” Steven stated. He laughed weakly. “Uh- good!”   
  
“Yeah. Wow. I..” Twoie ran his hands through his hair. “I guess.. Everythings okay.”   
  
“... But..” Steven frowned. “Isn’t she still.. Dying for something? She.. she sounded.. Like she already accepted her- oh! And.. she said she was secondary! Is.. that what you meant?”   
  
Twoie’s eyes widened. “Oh! Oh! Yes! That- that.. That’s still bad! Thinking she’s secondary isn’t good..”   
  
“Yeah! So.. we gotta do something!”   
  
“Yeah!” Twoie stood up. “We have to fix this!”   
  
Steven and Twoie warped to the Sky Arena, walking into the diamond shaped doorway. 

“-- The heat of battle, your purpose is what matters. You are secondary.”   
  
“I am secondary.”   
  
Steven whimpered, running down the stairs.   
  
“Now, let us.. Begin!” Pearl announced, spreading her arms as a thick fog rolled in. Twoie followed after Steven, shield out. 

“Connie??” Steven called into the fog. “Connie, where are you?!”

He could hear Connie fighting, but he couldn’t see her..

“Connie!!”   
  
He turned around and gasped, face to face with a Holo-Pearl. He chuckled nervously. “Y-you wouldn’t have happened to see Connie, would you..?”

Holo-Pearl’s eyes shone read as she raised her saber over Steven’s chest. 

_ “UNREGISTERED COMBATANT DETECTED.” _

A blade was shoved through her chest, dispelling her form. Connie stood behind her, a frown set on her face. 

“Steven? What are you doing out here?”

“Connie, I don’t want you to do this anymore-- not alone.”

“No, Steven.” Connie shook her head. “I understand now. The Crystal Gem’s legacy, your destiny, the Earth’s history.. That is everything. And I.. I am nothing. But I can do this! I can protect the Earth! And you!”   
  
Steven frowned and shook his head quickly. “No! I don’t want you to!”

“Steven.. Just let me DO THIS!”   
  
Connie ducked them both down beneath a saberstrike. She rolled over Steven and sliced through the Holo-Pearl, dissipating it. 

“I need to be able to protect you!”

Steven curled his hands into fists, watching as a Holo-Pearl walked up behind Connie. He bit his lip, imagining his shield before him.   
  
“If you’re the one protecting me, then who’s the one protecting YOU!?”   
  
He pushed her to the side and blocked the Holo-Pearl’s strike with his shield. It clanged loudly and she wobbled before poofing.  “Someday soon, we might be fighting some  _ really  _ bad guys.. And when that day comes, I want to fight  _ with  _ you, together!”

He held out his hand to her, smiling.   
  
“So please.. Won’t you share this jam with me?”

Connie took his head and got up, readying her saber as four Holo-Pearl’s closed in on them. They all jumped up and struck downwards. Steven blocked them all with his shield, growing twice its size like Twoie taught him.

“This is much easier.” Connie said.   
  
“That’s the idea.”

He formed his bubble and launched them all backwards, watching triumphantly as they dissipated

“No matter what comes, we do this together!” He said, holding her hand.

“ **STEVEN** !” 

Steven’s bubble popped. 

Pearl cleared the fog, holding her saber tight in frustration.    
  
“Steven, don’t interfere. She needs to take me on herself!”   
  


“Why?!” He jabbed back. “We’re a team! She’s the strawberry…”   
  
“And he’s the biscuit!”

“And that makes us Jam..”   
  
“BUDS!”

Pearl furrowed her brow. “Wha..?”

Steven and Connie launched themselves at Pearl. Connie slashed at her with her saber. Pearl parried her attacks, thrown off guard. She slashed down and Steven swirled around, blocking her strike. Pearl recoiled and Connie slid under her legs. They charged at her, yelling in a battle cry.

**_“ENOUGH!”_ **

Pearl struck them down, landing them both in front of her on their backsides. Twoie ran up behind them, staring between the pair and Pearl.   
  
Pearl breathed heavily, gripping her saber. She shook her head. “NO! IN A REAL BATTLE, STEVEN WON’T BE THERE TO SAVE YOU!”

“Yes, I will!” He argued. 

“Steven..” She sighed. “You don’t  _ know  _ that!”

“Yes, I do!” He grinned. “If Connie is going to fight, we’re going to fight together!”

“That’s right!” Connie chimed in.

“You shouldn’t be anywhere NEAR the fight! You’re too  _ important _ !” Pearl yelled.   
  
“I’m not!!”   
  
“ _ Yes, you are!” _   
  
“Pearl, sto-” Twoie tried to say.   
  
“NO!” Steven yelled.

_ “WHY WON’T YOU JUST LET ME DO THIS FOR YOU,  _ **_ROSE!?!”_ **

Pearl’s shout echoed across the Sky Arena. Steven went quiet, words caught in his throat. He felt Connie’s confusion beside him and felt a burning warmth behind him. 

Pearl gasped shakily, tears filling her eyes. “I.. I mean..” She sniffled, wiping them away. “Let  _ her _ .. Do this. Why won’t you let Connie do this for you?”

Pearl sighed and dropped her saber, turning away.   
  
“That’s..  _ enough _ for today..”

She walked off, sitting on the edge of the Sky Arena and looking up at the clouds.

Connie looked over at him and he looked back. They heard footsteps behind them and turned. Twoie was storming off, his fists clenched at his sides as he walked to the steps. The tiles cracked beneath his feet. Steven squinted. Was it just the light, or was he.. Glowing pink? He rubbed his eyes and Twoie was on the steps. Huh. Probably the light.   
  
He turned back to see Pearl, feeling guilt pool in his stomach. He got up with Connie and walked over. 

“Hey, Pearl.. I didn’t mean to mess up your training..” He sat down next to her. “But all that ‘You’re not important’ talk was really freaking me out.”

“Did Rose.. make you feel like you were nothing?” Connie asked.   
  
Pearl chuckled sharply. She looked up to the sky, a shine in her eyes.   
  
“Rose.. made me feel like I.. was  _ everything _ .” 

She wiped her eyes and looked down at them, a smile on her face.   
  
“I see now.. How deeply you care about each other.” She sniffed. “That will make you BOTH great knights!!”   
  
She pulled them in for a side hug and they laughed.    
  
“Connie is practically an expert, so, Steven, you’ve got a lot of catching up to do. Oh, I’m so  _ excited _ ! I can’t wait for the underwater and mid-air dueling exercises! It’s going to be boodles of fun!”

\----  
  
It had been a few hours since then, and Pearl was sitting at the kitchen island, planning out tomorrow’s lesson. Twoie walked through Rose’s door, startling Pearl and Steven.   
  
“Oh! S- Twoie! I.. wanted to talk to you.” Pearl said.  
  
“You.. did?” Twoie raised an eyebrow, sitting down next to her. Steven watched from his bed curiously.  
  
“I.. I’m sorry I didn’t take your advice earlier. I understand now what you meant. I shouldn’t have told Connie she was less important than Steven. Although, I don’t regret training her to be a knight.”  
  
There was a long pause before Twoie sighed.  
  
“Mm. It’s alright. You.. did better than I remember.”  
  
“What?”  
  
“When I was a kid, I remember you literally telling Connie to die for **_me_** _._ That she was **_nothing_** _._ That she **didn’t matter.** At least this time she.. Was secondary. And she wasn’t just fighting for me.”  
  
“.... Gracious.” Pearl put a hand over her mouth. “I really did that?”  
  
“Mhmm.”  
  
“.... Well. I suppose I can see your frustration now..”  
  
“Yeah.. and.. Um.. I’m sorry for making assumptions earlier.”  
  
“It’s fine. We can both let bygones be bygones, right?” She patted him on the back.  
  
“Right.” Twoie smiled, putting a hand on her shoulder, too.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Leave a comment if u enjoyed!!


	4. Keeping It Together

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Crystal Gems go on a hunt for Peridot in the Kindergarten. Steven sees something he wasn't supposed to.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> trigger for body horror

“We  _ need  _ to track down Peridot. We found her pod, we know she’s out there somewhere. She came to Earth with a job to do, and odds are, she’s still gonna try to do it. That’s why I’ve gathered you here.”

Steven folded his shirt, tucking it under his chin. “I thought it was so you could help me fold all this laundry!”

“That too.” Garnet replied. “The chore wheel idea you had fell apart fast.”

“Wasn’t me.” Amethyst said.   
  
Steven looked over to the chore wheel. All names were crossed out except Pearl’s, and Pearl had written her own name on every chore.   
  
“I just really enjoy doing all those things!” Pearl said.

“It’s better if we do them together..” Garnet replied.   
  
“Humans should just stop wearing clothes.. Be a lot funnier.” Amethyst said, folding some laundry.

“Hey!” Steven chided playfully. “I’m a civili-fied part hoo-man, thank you very much! Clothing is a must.”   
  
Amethyst rolled her eyes and chuckled, looking over at Twoie. “What about you?”   
  
Twoie chuckled. “I agree with Amethyst.”   
  
Steven gasped. “What!!!!”   


Garnet snickered.

Amethyst beamed. “Hah!” 

“Aren’t you a civili-fied part hoo-man too??” Steven puffed up his cheeks. Twoie smirked, setting down a folded shirt. “Nah.”

“Hell yeah.” Amethyst raised her hand for a fist bump. Twoie fist bumped her.   
  
“Amethyst!!” Pearl squawked. “Watch your mouth!”   
  
“Whaaat?? Hell isn’t even a real curse word.”   
  
“Still.”   
  
Amethyst scoffed and kept folding.

Steven hummed. “This.. is a lot of laundry.. I bet it’d go a lot faster if Ruby and Sapphire were here!~”   
  
Garnet smiled. “I’m sure they’d love to see you, Steven, but I’m  _ not  _ un-fusing for laundry.”

“Awe.”

“Garnet.. You don’t think Peridot would come looking for us, do you?” Pearl asked.

“We weren’t her priority.” Garnet asserted. “She was sent here to do something in the Kindergarten.”   
  
“Do you think she’s still trying to reactivate it?”

Garnet nodded. “Mm. If she gets it up and running, the injectors will turn back on.”

“In.. jectors?” Steven asked. 

“You’ve already seen them..” Pearl explained. “Well, you’ve seen them disabled.” She made a projection with her gem, showing an injector. “If Peridot re-activates them, they’ll pick up right where they left off-- planting gems in the Earth and sucking the life out of the ground! We can’t let Peridot reactivate it. If we do.. The entire planet will become..”   
  
“Janked.” Garnet supplied.   


Amethyst gaped. “GARNET!! That mouth!” She laughed. Twoie snickered.

“Don’t worry, we’ll stop her.” Garnet assured Steven. Steven smiled. 

Garnet got up. “Come on, Crystal Gems.”   
  
“Coming!” Said Pearl, following behind.   
  
Twoie followed them onto the warp pad. Steven hummed and went back to folding laundry. 

“Steven!” Garnet called. Steven turned.   
  
“C’mon! That means you, too, right?” Amethyst smiled.

Steven gasped, stars in his eyes. A mission!! He ran towards the warp pad, beaming, before colliding with Twoie’s hand.    
  
“Hold up. I don’t think you should come.”   
  
“W-what??” Steven stuttered, looking up at him. “Why not?? I’m a Crystal Gem!”   
  
“Yeah! Why can’t he come?” Amethyst asked.   
  
“Because.. Because it’s really scary down there. It’ll hurt him. I..” He frowned. “Sorry, Steven.. Another time.”   
  
“Twoie.” Garnet put a hand on his shoulder. “He can handle it.”   
  
“He can’t. You- ugh. I remember what went down there.  _ Nobody  _ here is prepared for that.”   
  
“Wait, you know what Peridot is doing?” Pearl asked.   
  
“Uh- yeah-”   
  
“ _ What!! _ Then tell us!” Amethyst said.   
  
Twoie frowned, thumbing the bottom of his jacket. “I.. uh.. I don’t.. Know if I should..”   
  
“You need to tell us.” Garnet said. “Then we might not even have to go.”   
  
“Oh, no, we need to go.” Steven said. “We need to take care of it. But.. uh.. Well, if we’re going anyways..”

“Ugh!! Let’s just bring Steven along and not show him the weird stuff!” Amethyst groaned, pulling Steven onto the pad and warping them.    


They warped in and Pearl turned on her gem-flashlight, looking around. Everyone else scattered slightly to investigate the injectors. Twoie stayed put and Steven did too, even though he wanted to follow Pearl.   
  
“... Hey, why did you say I couldn’t come? Do you not trust me or something?” Steven frowned. Twoie bit his lip. “Not that. I’m just trying to.. Um. protect you. From what happens here.”   
  
“... Are we in danger?”   
  
“Maybe. I can’t remember if anyone gets physically hurt. But it’ll sure as hell mentally scar some of us.”   
  
Steven frowned. “... W-why?”   
  
“... Hopefully, you won’t find out. Just stick with Amethyst and Pearl, okay?” He walked ahead. Steven huffed and went to Pearl. Just when the gems were starting to trust him with missions..   
  
“Well, nothing looks activated.” Pearl hummed, tracing her finger along a drill head and picking up the dust. “In fact, it doesn’t look like anything’s budged since we were last here.”

“That’s because she’s not trying to reactivate the Kindergarten.” Twoie said.   
  
“How do you know?” Amethyst puffed out her cheek.    


“Because I know exactly what she’s doing here and why. I know Peridot. I’ve lived through this all before.. I know everything that’s going to happen before it happens. So I know why she’s here.”   
  
“Oh, so.. Like an upgraded future vision?” Steven asked. Garnet crossed her arms. 

“Um. I guess.” Twoie shrugged. “Though, that doesn’t mean I don’t forget stuff. Like.. I dunno what happens when we fight Peridot, but I know she’s here.”   
  
“She’s here!?” Pearl squaked. “Oh my goodness! Where?”   
  
“Dunno. I forgot. This is three years ago.”   
  
Pearl groaned. “Ugh! Human memory is so  _ weak _ !”   
  
“Hey!” Twoie and Steven said in unison. 

“Well, we better do a perimeter check to find her.” Garnet said. 

“Right!” Steven said. He puffed out his chest and started walking. He could prove that he could handle this! Then nobody would stop him from going on missions..

He walked off and looked around at the barren, steep, cliffs. Thousands of holes drilled inside.. It creeped him out, how empty and lifeless this place was..

“Log date 652. This is Peridot.”   
  
Steven turned towards the voice, watching as a platform rose up from a square hole in the ground, Peridot standing on it.

“Updating status: still stuck on  _ miserable  _ planet. The fusion experiments are developing properly, some have even emerged early-- eugggh! Huh!”

She stared at Steven.

“... Are the other ones with you..?”   
  
Steven bit his lip. If he told her, she’d run..

He shook his head.

Oh, man, he hating lying..

He nodded his head. Then shrugged and nodded more.

“Of course.” Peridot face palmed. “Why not?”

“Peridot!” Garnet yelled, coming from behind him and running at her. “There she is!!” Pearl shouted.  Peridot gasped and scrambled away from them, screaming. 

“There’s nowhere to go!” Amethyst shouted.   
  
“You’re cornered!” Pearl added.

Steven gave chase too, running her to a wall. She walked right up it.   
  
Steven whined. “Hey! I can’t do that!”

“Neither can SHE!” Pearl yelled, throwing her spear. Peridot ducked and laughed.    
  
“HA! Missed!”   
  
It hit an injector leg, unbalancing it and bringing it down right onto Peridot. She fell and the injector crashed to the ground, kicking up dust and dirt. 

“Do you think she’s hurt?” Steven asked.

Peridot threw aside some boulders that were on top of her and groaned. 

“Hah, nope!” Amethyst chuckled, whipping Peridot and tangling it around her. Peridot scowled and brought up one of her fingers, touching the whip and sending an electrical current through it.

“Who-o-a, hot whip!!” Amethyst said, dropping it and letting her go. 

“You crystal clods!” Peridot yelled as she ran away. “Go ahead! Wreck this place! See if I care- I already got what I needed!”

Pearl and Amethyst chased after her. Her eyes went wide and she raised her limb enhancer, the fingers twirling into a propeller, flying her up into the sky. Peridot cackled evilly as she made her escape.

“I’m gonna bop her good!” Amethyst yelled. “I’ll help!” Pearl added.

“Hurry!” Steven said, trying to run after them. Garnet grabbed him and held him in place. 

“Garnet! Let him go.” Twoie said. Steven stopped running, looking down at Garnet. “Yeah! Lemme go!”   
  
Garnet huffed and set him down. “I don’t think you’re gonna catch her..”   
  
“Well, he can’t stay with us.” Twoie said, crossing his arms.   
  
“Since when did you become leader?” Garnet sneered. Twoie flushed. “Uh. W-well.. I’m not. Buuuttt he shouldn’t come.. It’s.. not safe for a kid down there.”   
  
“Then you’re not coming, either.”   
  
“But I’ve already seen it! I know what to expect! He doesn’t!”   
  
Garnet crossed her arms. “.... Fine. Just take me to what she’s doing.”   
  
“Okay.”   
  
Steven whined. “Aw! C’mon!! Let me help!”   
  
“Steven, you’ll have nightmares for weeks.” Twoie deadpanned. Steven frowned. “Wh.. I’m not that fragile..”   
  
“I’ll also have nightmares for weeks.” Twoie said. “What’s down there.. Nobody should see it. ‘Specially not you. So.. go help Pearl and Amethyst, please.”   
  
Garnet and Twoie walked off. Steven looked in the direction Peridot, Pearl, and Amethyst went. They were too far off to catch up to them and he didn’t know where the warp pad was to go home..   
  
Steven balled his hands into fists and stomped his foot. It wasn’t fair!! He couldn’t go on a real gem mission just because his future self thought he was a kid?? Well, screw that! He was gonna come, and he was gonna help! They would see.. They would see how helpful and brave and.. And not weak he was!!   
  
He turned around, marching after Twoie and Garnet as they made their way over to the square hole in the ground. Silently, he ducked behind an injector to watch them.

“This is it.” Steven said. “.... Y’know, Garnet, um.. Maybe we should do this later.”   
  
“Why?”   
  
“Because you.. Uh.. this is something that’ll really affect you.”   
  
“Steven, I can handle it. I’m a gem warrior.”   
  
“.... I remember you not-”   
  
“Doesn’t matter. Let’s just go.” She hopped down the hole.   
  
Twoie sighed and followed her.

Steven waited a minute and slid down, too. He looked up, taking in his surroundings. It was dark and smelled like metal and dirt. Green tubes ran across the ceiling and intertwined, all appearing to have turned off.    
  
He got down to the bottom of the hole, ducking down behind the green structure so Twoie and Garnet couldn’t see him. He peeked out from the top to see what they were doing.   
  
“So.. slight problem.” Twoie chuckled. “I probably can’t bubble them..”   
  
“Why not?”   
  
“Because if I sent one off, it’ll be sent to my time, which would mess up the time stream.”   
  
“Ah. Makes sense. Well, I’ll bubble whatever’s down here.”   
  
“Mm.” Twoie frowned, looking away. 

Steven looked up at the dirt pillars stretching down from the ceiling, and the ones up from the ground. How was this place even creepier than last time?

“So.. there’s something going on here?” Garnet asked, not actually curious. “Tell me what’s going on, future boy.”   
  
“You’ll see..” Twoie said, walking over and knocking on one of the walls. He was shaking. 

Garnet frowned. “... Steven, you’re shaking.”   
  
“Mhmm.”   
  
“... I can take you back up.”   
  
“Nah, I don’t wanna leave you alone down here.”   
  
“I’m never alone.” She smirked, adjusting her visor.   
  
“You might be soon.”   
  
Garnet furrowed her brows.

Twoie knocked on the walls again. To their left, a pillar started to shake. Garnet turned towards it, readying her gauntlets. Twoie just swallowed and took his hands out of his pockets. Steven watched the pillar anxiously. Is whatever in there what’s so scary about this place? The thing that’ll give them all nightmares?

Something dropped from the ceiling behind them. Steven squinted and leaned up- he couldn’t see..   
  
Before he could get a good look, Twoie poofed it. 

More fell from the ceiling.    
  
Twoie handed it’s gem to Garnet. “Here. You have to bubble it. I’m s-sorry.”   
  
Garnet looked at it and shuddered, throwing it onto the ground. “What..”   
  
“I’m sorry.” Twoie repeated. “There’s more. Many more. We have to poof and bubble all of them. I’m sorry.”   
  
Twoie started to pick up the things that fell from the ceiling, poofing them and bubbling them, but not sending them off. Garnet stood, frozen, shaking too. Steven felt his heart sink. Garnet.. Was  **_scared_ ** ?

Suddenly, there was a loud crack in the rumbling pillar. Twoie turned around, there were tears in his eyes. “Oh, god..”   
  
It burst. Four broken gems floated out of it, rising up and twisting grotesquely. It screamed, taking the form of four people, stuck together but trying desperately to pull themselves apart. Their hands reached out for help that wouldn’t come and then they sank back into a ball of light, glitching and finally forming itself into a giant disembodied hand with arms and legs for fingers. 

It slammed down on the ground, crawling towards Twoie and Garnet. It screeched painfully. Twoie was crying. “S-shit..” 

Garnet glanced back at him for a moment before training her eyes on the beast again. She started to pant and shake, backing away from it slowly. 

“Garnet..” Twoie sniffled. “I- I know it’s scary.. But we gotta help them. I-it’ll be okay..”

Steven gripped the edge of the structure, eyes welling up with tears. He felt bile build up in his throat- but he knew it wouldn’t actually come out. He sobbed. W-what was it..?

It grabbed Garnet, pulling her towards it. Steven’s eyes widened. He needed to move- he needed to help her! He slowly started to hoist himself up into the structure.   
  
It smacked Garnet across the face, her visor falling off revealing her three, horrified, eyes.

“These were Crystal Gems.. shattered into pieces. They were buried together.” She started to cry. Steven got himself up and spoke, voice crackling in his throat. “G-garnet..”   
  
Twoie’s attention snapped to him and he froze. “... No..”

“They were forced together..” Garnet continued. “They were forced to fuse-- this is wrong!”

“I-I-I’m sorry..” Garnet sobbed. “I- ahh!” She turned into light, a hole burning down her waist. She was splitting apart.    
  
“No, no, Garnet!” Steven called, racing up to her. “You’re coming undone!” He grabbed her leg. “Garnet! Ga-”   
  
Twoie launched past them and slammed his spiked, bubble covered, fist into it’s palm, poofing it. He bubbled it and turned back to Garnet. “G-garnet.. It- it’s okay--”

Garnet split. Ruby and Sapphire fell out from her. Sapphire was sobbing. Ruby was staring off into nothing, scared.   
  
Twoie gasped and turned away. “Goddamnit-- Steven! Help me bubble these gems!”   
  
He snapped his fingers and all the bubbles unpopped. Steven looked around and nodded shakily. “O-Okay..”   
  
He grabbed every gem he could, bubbling them and sending them off. 

“So. This is what Homeworld thinks of fusion.” Ruby said quietly. Steven and Twoie turned to her. Twoie turned away just as quickly and covered his ears, panting.

“W-we couldn’t have known they would do this!” Sapphire replied.

“This is where they’ve been-- all the ones we couldn’t find. They’ve been here the whole time!”   
  
“Rose couldn’t have known!”   
  
_ “This was punishment for the rebellion!” _

_ “It’s not our fault!”  _ Sapphire’s voice broke.

“Guys!” Steven called.

They turned to him. Sapphire wiped her eye.    
  
“S-steven..”

“Yooo~” Amethyst said, coming into the cave. “We’re back.”   
  
Pearl hopped in. “Garn-”   
  
They stopped.   
  
Pearl frowned. “R-ruby..? Sapphire? Um.. Why-”   
  
“D-don’t ask.” Ruby got up. “Where’s Peridot?”   
  
“Um.. We couldn’t catch her.” Pearl said.

Yellow and purple hands attached at the wrist crawled up Amethyst. 

“Um.. What are.. These things?”   
  
“PUT THEM DOWN!” Sapphire yelled. Pearl threw it onto the ground, wincing.    
  
“We have to poof and bubble all of them.” She said, raising her fist. “We can’t let any escape.”   
  
She slammed down on the forced fusion, poofing it and bubbling it.    
  
“.... So.. wh- uh..” Amethyst frowned. “Are you guys okay?”   
  
Ruby sighed. “Yeah. Uh.. Just.. give us a moment. Garnet will be back soon.”    
  
Sapphire nodded. “Yes. Soon. Something down here just startled us.”   
  
Twoie sniffled in the corner. Everyone turned to him.   
  
Twoie was facing away from them, pulling apart a two arms conjoined at the elbow. He threw the shards behind him towards the others and then put a hand over his mouth, trying to muffle his sobbing.

“Dude..” Amethyst frowned, walking over and placing a hand on his shoulder. “What did you guys see-”   
  
“DON’T TOUCH ME!” 

Amethyst recoiled. Steven whined.   
  
Ruby and Sapphire stared at him.   
  
“... Twoie.” Ruby said. “Are you okay?”   
  
“F-”   
  
“...”   
  
“M.. I don’t know. I don’t care. Let- let- let’s just p-p-poof and b-b-bubble them and  **_leave_ ** .”

Steven frowned. “... I’m sorry I um.. Snuck down here.”   
  
“You should be. Listen to m-me next time.” Twoie snarled, stomping on another fusion and breaking the tile beneath him. There was a dull pink glow on the wall.   
  
Behind them, Ruby and Sapphire fused. Garnet put on her visor. “Be careful, Steven. Don’t shatter them.”

“W-what does it matter? They’re done for anyways.”   
  
**_“Steven.”_ **

Twoie huffed and stomped on a few more, but not hard enough to break ground. 

All five of them cleaned up the mess and headed home. Immediately after everyone stepped off of the warp pad, Twoie warped away. Pearl went to go after him, but Garnet stopped her, advising her to just let him go. Pearl frowned.

Steven watched as they all went their separate ways. 

He sat down and kept folding laundry.

Later that day, he talked to Garnet and cheered her up. They talked about her fusion, and he felt a little bit better. After that, Twoie returned, much calmer. Steven tried to ask him what was wrong and Twoie brushed him off, going to the couch and listening to music on his phone. Steven sighed. Maybe another day..

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please leave a comment if u enjoyed!!


	5. Keystone Motel

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> On a family road trip Garnet splits apart. Steven tries to help, but Twoie isn't sure he can.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> beta read by spidergem on tumblr

“Pearl! Where’ve you been?” Steven called from his bedroom. Pearl turned around, startled, then smiled sadly.   
  
“Oh. Just looking for Peridot! ...For a few days straight.”

She sighed. “Steven, I know I might have..  _ Disappointed  _ all of you. I know Garnet’s very upset with me. But I’m going to prove to her that she can trust me again!”

Garnet came through the front door. Pearl perked up.    
  
“Oh! Garnet! I was just looking for Peridot. She’s bound to be somewhere, right? Any new ideas..?”   
  
Garnet stood there, looking down on Pearl, before walking past her silently.

Pearl looked down in shame. “I”m sorry.”   
  
Garnet stopped walking, looking away from Pearl.

It’s silent in the beachhouse and Steven looks between his two guardians. He wished he could help the-

_ “WHO WANTS TO GO ON A  _ **_ROAD TRIP!?”_ **

Everyone turned towards Greg, standing in the doorway with a big smile on his face.

Twoie snickered upstairs.

“Um.” Greg looked around, feeling the oppressive atmosphere. “Is this a bad time?”

“No, please continue.” Garnet said, walking towards him. 

“Well, I gotta drive over to the next state, Keystone-”   
  
“You mean the Keystone State?” Pearl asked.

“Right. The state named Keystone. I met a guy on an internet message board who’s selling car wash brushes for  _ real cheap! _ I just gotta meet him in Keystone to pick ‘em up.”

Steven frowned, remembering the last time he was inside that car wash. “I don’t like those brushes. They feel weird on your fur.”

“Well, do you like motels?”   
  
“Probably!” He smiled.

“Think you’d like to stay in a motel with your  _ favourite  _ dad?”

“I dunno if you’re my favourite...” Steven teased.   
  
“What? Huh- Oh, you kidder! C’mere!” Greg smiled. Steven leapt into his arms and was lifted up to his level.    
  
“I can’t wait to get room service!!”   
  
“Ah, you’re thinking of a **ho** tel- we’re going to a  **mo** tel! It’ll have a pool and free ice and it’s right next to the _ best diner in the world!” _

“I’m coming, too.” Garnet said, walking up to them.

“What?” Pearl whispered. 

Steven gasped. “Even better!!”

He was lifted down as Greg whispered something to Garnet. He only heard a few words, but couldn’t get the whole statement. 

Garnet smiled and replied to him. “I’ll be the judge of that.”

“Well.. in that case.. Road trip!!” Greg grinned.    
  
“Road trip!” Steven cheered.    
  
“Road trip.” Garnet snoofed. 

“Wonde-” Pearl started. Steven interrupted her, not realizing she was about to speak.

“Oh! Oh! Can Twoie come too? He’s family, right?”

“Huh? Oh, sure!” Greg looked up at Twoie, who was watching from Steven’s bedroom. “How you’d like to go on a road trip, Twoie?”   


“Uh..” Twoie pressed his lips together, unsure. “...” He shrugged. “Eh.. why not. Beats sitting here all day..” He hopped off from the top floor and floated down to the ground. Greg breathed out shakily. 

“Whoa! Be careful! You almost gave me a heart attack jumping from there!”   
  
“Oh, sorry.” Twoie smiled.   
  
“Well, goodbye, everyone!” Pearl chirped. Steven smiled and waved. “Bye, Pearl!”   
  
“Bye!” Twoie said.   
  
“Wait.” Greg looked around. “Where’s Garnet?”   
  
“She left already.” Pearl sighed, turning away. 

Greg furrowed his brows. Steven turned towards him.    
  
“This is gonna be fun, right, dad?”   
  
\----   


It was a long few hours into Keystone. Steven had a lot of fun. He, Twoie, and Greg all played eye-spy for a while, then Greg introduced Steven to some weird music he didn’t like.. It was supposedly pop but.. The lyrics were too depressing and there were so many synths.. Greg said it was called “Indie” music and it was from the 80’s. Twoie liked it. Eventually, he fell asleep, and woke up when they pulled into the motel. 

Greg shook him awake and Garnet got all the bags. Steven looked around and gasped. They were here.   
  
“Hey, Schtu-ball, wanna know the best thing about motels?”   
  
“What’s that?” Steven asked. Greg opened up their door, revealing two twin beds and a TV.    
  
“You can drive right up to your door!”   
  
Steven gasped. 

“I’m gonna swim in the pool, order a movie, get free ice!! It’s gonna be great!!” He exclaimed as he ran inside, flopping down on the bed. 

Greg winced. “Not before we check for bed bugs it isn’t!”   
  
Twoie came in with Garnet and sat down on the bed with Steven, laying back and watching Garnet as she set down the bags.

“Good news, we’re bugless!” Greg said. His cell phone beeped and he looked at the message. “Oop- that’s my cue! Hey, do you mind holding down the fort until I get back?”   
  
Garnet’s hands twitched on her lap before one gave a thumbs up.

“Great. I’m off to see a man about a tunnel brush.” He opened the door. “An..  _ internet  _ man..” He hummed, peeking back inside. “Hey, if i’m not back in an hour,  _ call the police _ .” 

“O-kay!” Steven said, giving him the thumbs up. Twoie gave an OK sign. 

Once the door was shut, Steven got up and started bouncing on the bed. “Bounce with me, Twoie!”   
  
Twoie grabbed his leg and coaxed him to sit. Steven tilted his head. “What? Why can’t I bounce?”   
  
“We can do that after Ruby and Sapphire leave.” He whispered. Steven huffed. “Her name is  _ Garnet _ , Twoie. It’s rude to refer to her as her counterparts.”   
  
“She won’t be Garnet in a second.”   
  
“What?”

“Calm down..” Garnet groaned from beside them, gripping her knees. “I don’t feel like forgiving Pearl!-- You don’t understand, we must..” She gripped her sides, pulling. “If you’re not going to listen, then you can just GO!”

Ruby and Sapphire unfused, landing on the floor.   
  
“We must move past this, Ruby.” Sapphire said coldly. 

Ruby growled, standing up. “She lied to us so we could form  _ Sardonyx _ ! She  _ tricked  _ us-- don’t you feel  _ used _ ??”

Steven gasped. “Ruby! Sapphire! I--”   
  
“You’re choosing to take it personally.” Sapphire spoke over him to Ruby.    
  
“It’s  **FUSION** ,  _ SAPPHIRE _ ! WHAT’S MORE PERSONAL TO US THAN  **FUSION** !?”

“I know you’re still upset.”   
  
“OH, so it’s just ME.”   
  
“Of course not, can’t you see I’m completely engulfed with rage?” She deadpanned.    
  
Ruby crossed her arms. “Well, it doesn’t  _ feel  _ like it.”

Sapphire got up and floated up to the bed. “The sooner we forgive Pearl, the better it will be for us all.” 

“You’re not as above this as you think you ARE!!” Ruby yelled.   
  
“Yes. I am.”

Ruby started to pace around the room angrily. Steven looked down at Twoie, who was watching with bored, apathetic, expression. Steven frowned. “Twoie..?” He whispered. “Should I be worried?”   
  
“Nah.” He whispered back. “There’s nothing you can do right now. Just wait for Ruby to leave and then we can do whatever.”   
  
“But.. shouldn’t we help them?”   
  
“It’s not gonna work.”   
  
Steven huffed. He could still try..

He looked up at Sapphire. Ruby had left the room.   
  
“Um.. nice to see you again?”

“Nice to see you, too.”

Steven waited for the conversation to go somewhere. It didn’t. He sighed and laid down. Twoie patted his shoulder. “It’s okay. Let’s just go outside and have our own fun.”   
  
“I don't wanna leave the room.”

“Well.. Sapphire’s gonna freeze it over so we gotta. Unless you wanna ask her to leave.”   
  
“No.. I don’t wanna do that..” Steven sighed. “... I wanna go swimming.”   
  
“Ruby’s by the pool. You’d have to ask her to move, too.”   
  
“Why?”   
  
“She’ll just be really mad and ranting the entire time. Uncomfortable.”   
  
Steven brushed Twoie’s hand off. “I’m getting my trunks anyways.”   
  
He grabbed his luggage and brought out his trunks and tossed Twoie another pair.   
  
“Steven.. I can’t fit in these.”   
  
“Just shapeshift!”   
  
“Ah.”   
  
Steven walked outside, trunks in hand. He looked at the pool, and saw Ruby pacing back and forth by it. He hummed. Why couldn’t he just go swimming..?   
  
Twoie followed him out. “...”   
  
Steven looked up at him. “I’m gonna try and help her. Maybe then she.. She won’t be so angry.”   
  
“I don’t think you’ll be able to.”   
  
Steven ignored him and walked over. He  _ had  _ to help his family, what part of that did Twoie not get? It was so rude to just.. Just let them be sad!

He walked to the pool and sat down on one of the chairs.    
  
“Hey, Ruby..”   
  
“It’s fusion, Steven! It’s like Sapphire doesn’t even care!!” She paced back and forth, footprints burning into the concrete. “And we’re supposed to be the bigger gem about this, we’re  _ ALLLLWAYYSS  _ the bigger gem! Well, not this time! Not about THIS!”

Twoie walked in and leaned against the fence, crossing his arms and watching disinterestedly.

Steven thought.    
  
“Well.. um.. Maybe you can, uh.. Go cool down in the pool!”

“I don’t need to _ cool down.. _ ”

“Yeah, you shouldn’t get in. You’ll burn it up.” Twoie said. Steven scoffed, glaring at him. “No! C’mon, you can go swimming!”   
  
“I don’t wanna. Just.. leave me alone, Steven. I’m mad.”   
  
“But-”   
  
“C’mon.” Twoie put a hand on his shoulder. “We can swim tomorrow.”

Steven frowned, looking down at the pool water. He stomped his foot, tears coming to his eyes. This wasn’t fair!! He was gonna have a nice time at the motel with Twoie, dad, and Garnet. But now Garnet was gone and Twoie was talking down to him. 

“We.. could still.. Swim.” He mumbled.

“Ruby wants to be left alone.”

“But-”

“It’ll be okay.” Twoie patted his head. “You wanna.. Um.. Watch the stars? They’re real clear out here.”

Steven looked up at the sky, shoulders relaxing a little. It was nice..

"Fine.” He huffed, storming out of the pool area and off to the curb. Twoie followed, sitting down next to him.

“...” Steven looked up at him. Twoie tilted his head. Steven huffed. “Why do you not.. Care about this?”

“I care.”

“It doesn’t seem like it.”

Twoie sighed. “Listen.. I’ve been where you are before.. I tried to help, but.. It didn't work out. The night just sucked. So.. it’s better to stay out of it. They’ll make up tomorrow.”

“Then why’d you even come if you knew it would suck?”

“Because I thought I could change it and.. Make it better this time.”

"Well, you didn't."

Twoie blushed and looked away, wringing his hands together. "Sorry."

Steven sighed. "No.. I.. I'm sorry. I shouldn't be mad. I just.. I need to help them."

"It's not your responsibility to help them, Steven."

"But it is.."

"It's not. It's theirs."

"So, what, I can't help people now?"

"I never said that."

"Then what do you mean?" Steven scowled.

"What I mean.. Is that you can't always help someone." He sighed, leaning back on the curb and looking up to the sky. "You can try to help them and convince them to do the right thing.. But it's up to them to decide if they want to be helped. And.. some people don't want to be helped. It sucks, yeah, it hurts to.. To feel like you failed. That if you just did this.. This one thing right.. Or you hadn't of screwed up this one sentence.. That you could've helped them."

He looked over at him.

"It's not healthy, Steven. Feeling like you have to fix everyone's problems. It'll ruin you. It.. it feels like you're walking on eggshells with every conversation, the slightest things will throw you into an anxiety attack.. It.." He shuddered. "... Ugh."

Steven reached out a hand, putting it on Twoie's leg timidly.

"... S-so.. um.. I.." He frowned. "... I don't understand."

"What don't you understand?"

"Am I supposed to he-help people or not?" He wiped his eyes.

"You can help people, but don't hurt yourself in the process."

Steven nodded slowly, looking down at the concrete below him. He could hear Ruby's angry shouting from the pool and it made him sad. He wanted so desperately to help.. But.. was helping her in vain? Would it hurt him? Twoie seemed to know what he was talking about.. (A little too well, honestly.) so shouldn't he take his word for it? Let Ruby and Sapphire work out their differences on their own?

"Hey." 

Steven looked up. Twoie was watching him, a tired, empathetic, smile on his face. "If you wanna go help them.. Go ahead and try. I won't stop you. But if you get tired or frustrated or.. You don't think you can do it; it's okay to take a break and come back."

Steven nodded. "Okay. Um.. I- I'll go talk to Sapphire.."

"Good luck." Twoie gave him a thumbs up. 

Steven went to Sapphire, he joined her inside and tried to tell her to talk to Ruby. She ignored and interrupted him, brushing off his advice and saying it would all work out. He got frustrated, and left, going back to Ruby. He tried to talk to her, but all she did was rant about how Sapphire was taking Pearl's betrayal. She ended up burning a hole into the concrete and he decided to leave after a lot of pleading. He came back to Twoie and sat down.

"I don't like this." Steven huffed. Twoie frowned. "Yeah.. I kno-"

Headlights shone in their eyes. Steven squinted as he saw his dad's van pull into the parking lot. He gasped. "DAD!!"

Greg hopped out of the van, holding up a pizza. "Hey, Schtu-ball! I brought dinner!"

"Good." Steven opened up the back doors, crawling inside. "Hopefully pizza will make this night not suck so much.."

"What?" Greg frowned. "What happened?"

"Ruby and Sapphire are arguing." Twoie explained, sitting in the van. "Steven tried to help, but.. They don't seem to want any."

Greg hummed and looked inside the hotel window. "Jeez.. something pretty serious must be going on if it made Garnet split.” He sat down next to the two boys in the van. "But hey, we can still have a good time!"

He opened up the pizza box for Steven. Steven gasped. 

" _ SQUARE PIZZA!?! _ WHAT'S WRONG WITH THIS CRAZY STATE!?"

"Son, there will come a time where you learn to appreciate all pizza."

"Yeah." Twoie said, grabbing a slice. "Square pizza isn't so bad! There's more crust." He bit into it and winced in disgust. 

"Nevermind, this pizza sucks. Too much cheese.. Eugh.. dad, you got any chili flakes?"

"Nope, sorry."

"Ugh." Twoie laid back, biting into his pizza again. Steven chuckled and ate his too, pushing through the weird layers of cheese to fuel his appetite. 

They sat in silence for a while, eating.

Steven sighed. "Hey, dad..?"

"Yes, Steven?"

"... How come.. How come Ruby and Sapphire won't let me help them? I.. I tried to.. Get them to make up but.. They won't listen to me."

Greg sighed. "Mm.. Well, sometimes.. You gotta let things run their course. Let's just give them some space for a while-- they'll talk and work it out eventually."

"... But.. don't they wanna be.. Made up now? So they don't have to be angry? Don't they wanna be Garnet again?"

"I don't know, Steven. I don't know what they're thinking right now. But, I do know that they love each other. And sometimes, people who love each other can hurt each other's feelings without meaning to. And.. sometimes, people just wanna feel bad for a while."

"Why would someone wanna feel bad?"

"To get it out of their system. It's like.. Being really sad and having a good cry to get out all your feelings. Crying isn't the best, but it'll help alleviate what's inside."

Steven nodded. "Okay.. Um. Thanks."

"Don't worry about it. Everything will be better in the morning. We'll all go to the best diner in the world where they'll eat the best breakfast in the world."

"You think that'll help?"

"Sure. Nothing like a little breakfast to bring people together."

Twoie sighed. 

"What's wrong?" Greg looked back. "You bummed about them, too?"

"Nah, just.." He shrugged. "Tomorrow.. It.."

Steven whined. "Oh, don't tell me tomorrow goes bad, too!"

"Doesn't have to.. I guess." He sat up. "I'll try and fix it. But.. no promises."

Steven looked down, gritting his teeth and feeling the back of his eyes burn. "I thought this was gonna be fun.."

Greg opened his mouth to say something, but Twoie moved in, patting Steven on the back, comforting him, before Greg could. "Hey, hey.. It'll be alright. Even if it does go a little haywire, it's not the end of the world.." 

Steven looked up at him. "I don't know.."

"Well, I know. I know that eventually, we'll all have a great time. You, me, dad, and Garnet."

Steven smiled weakly, leaning into Twoie. "... Okay."

Twoie blinked, looking down at him. "Uh.. oh. Um.." Slowly, he wrapped his arms around Steven, hugging him. "No.. problem. I'll try not to be such a bummer."

Greg snoofed. Twoie looked up. "What?"

"Nothin'." He looked at them, a warm smile on his face. "You two are just cute."

Twoie flushed and looked away. "No, I'm not.."

"Yeah, you are." Greg ruffled his hair. Twoie huffed, turning away. He acted like he didn't want to be babied, but Steven could see his smile.

\----

They slept in the van that night, and drove to “The Best Diner in the World” in the morning. Twoie, Ruby, and Sapphire, were all quiet. Steven and his dad talked the way over, trying to fill the silence. They sat down at a booth and ordered their food. After about 15 minutes, it came out: eggs, bacon, and hashbrowns. Steven smiled when his was set down.   
  
“Thanks!”   


He forked in some eggs.   
  
His dad spoke next to him, looking at Ruby curiously. “What’s the matter? Not hungry?”   
  
“Gems don’t need to eat, dad.” Steven whispered. 

“Eh, Garnet likes to eat sometimes.” 

“Ugh!” Ruby groaned. “Well, Garnet’s not HERE!”

Steven watched them anxiously, eating his food. Twoie stared, holding his plate in his hands. Steven looked up at Greg. Greg looked back down, also uncomfortable.    
  
“ _ Mmm _ .. oh boy. This really  _ is  _ the best diner in the world..!” He said, looking back at Ruby and Sapphire. 

Ruby gripped the table and fidgeted, shaking it. 

“Ruby, you’re shaking the table.” Sapphire stated.   
  
“Oh!? Heh!” She slammed her fist down on it, shaking it harder. “I’m kinda surprised you felt anything at all, to be honest!”

“Ruby. Sapphire.” Twoie said sternly. “Stop it.”   
  
Sapphire ignored him. “I didn’t need to feel- I saw.”

“Everything’s just so  _ crystal clear _ to you,  **isn't it!?** ” Ruby stood up, slamming the table up and down.   
  
“RUBY! SAPPHIRE!” Twoie shouted sternly. “If you’re going to fight, take it outside!”   
  
Ruby glared at him. “Don’t tell me what to do!”

Sapphire looked over. “This will pass, eventually she’ll just burn herself out.”   
  
Twoie gritted his teeth, moving his plate to the windowsill and standing up. “Ruby-”   
  
“THAT’S WHAT  _ YOU  _ THINK! I’M AN ETERNAL FLAME, BABY!” Ruby yelled, summoning her gauntlet and slamming it down on the table. It snapped in half, Twoie holding the other end and fuming. 

“Jesus Christ, guys, control yourself!”

“Language!” Greg scolded. 

Steven stared down at the snapped half of the table as Ruby and Sapphire bickered. He pressed his lips together. This was supposed to be great- this was supposed to work out- Twoie said he would fix it, he tried to help, but they just wouldn’t listen. Why wouldn’t they-   
  
“Hey, it’s okay, pal!” Greg said. “We’ll just pack these up to go and-”   
  
Steven smashed his plate on the ground, walking off. He couldn’t deal with this right now. He got outside, feeling frustration run through him again. How did everything get so messed up?   
  
“Steven!” Ruby and Sapphire called. 

He whipped around, stomping his foot onto the grass and throwing his arms out. 

“I was SO happy when Garnet said she was gonna come on this trip with us! Home’s been awful, here’s been awful! I thought you wanted to have a fun time, but everyone’s been acting awful, too! It- it just came with us!! I.. I don’t understand..” He frowned, feeling his heat burn out. “... Was.. was it.. Me..?”

“No, Steven! It’s all us!” Ruby said. 

“But.. we made it feel like we were mad at  _ him _ .” Sapphire realized, putting her hand to her mouth. “I’ve been looking into the future when this has all already been solved.. As- as if it doesn’t matter how you  _ feel  _ in the present! No wonder you think I don’t ca- are!!” Her voice broke, a tear coming down from behind her bangs.

“Sapphire!” Ruby gasped. “No, no, no, no! This is all my fault, I-I didn’t want to look for a solution. I- I just wanted to be mad!”   
  
Steven huffed, taking a step back as his shoulders relaxed. Well.. it seemed like everything did work itself out.. Twoie and his dad were right.. He should’ve just let it be. Ruby  _ did  _ just wanna be mad. Even though he didn’t understand why.

He looked back up, checking back into their conversation. His focus was redirected as he saw Twoie step out of the diner. He looked at him, then at Ruby and Sapphire. He sighed and stood by the door, waiting. 

Steven sighed. He wished Ruby would’ve listened to Twoie earlier.. Just.. taken a second to calm down. Now he was hungry and he wouldn’t be able to eat at the diner because they were probably mad at them for destroying the place.. 

He heard laughter and looked up, watching as Sapphire was scooped up by Ruby and kissed down her neck. He groaned and covered his eyes, laying down on the grass.

“Welp, I paid for breakfast.” Greg said, walking up to him. “And the damage to the booth. Anyhoo, I think I’m all vacationed out. Ready to call it a day?”   
  
Steven opened his mouth to respond. He saw a bright purple light and looked up.

Garnet stood on the grass, smiling.    
  
“Not before we get our free ice.” She adjusted her visor. Steven beamed. “Garnet!”

“Hey, Steven.” Garnet said, kneeling down. Steven got up and hugged her. “Mm.. I missed you.”   
  
“I missed you, too. I’m sorry I- Ruby and Sapphire didn’t listen to you last night. We just wanted to be mad.”   
  
“I understand.” Steven said. “Twoie explained to me that.. I should’ve just let you be. Sorry.”   
  
“It’s fine.” She pat his head. “I appreciate the effort. Nothing wrong with trying.”   
  
“Yeah.” Greg affirmed.    
  
Twoie walked up, holding his plate of breakfast and eating some bacon. “Hey.”   
  
Greg looked over. “Wh- you stole the plate?”   
  
“No?” He frowned. “I’m eating my breakfast that you paid for.”   
  
“Steven, it's still their plate.”   
  
Twoie looked down and his eyes went wide. “Oh. Whoops.”   
  
Greg sighed. “It’s okay.. We paid for the plates, too.. Just, uh, don’t do that again.”   
  
“Got it.” He gave a thumbs up.

Garnet picked up Steven, holding him on her shoulder. “C’mon, lets go get that free ice.”   
  
“Yeah!” Steven cheered.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Leave a comment if u enjoyed!!


	6. Friendship

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Pearl is desperate to catch Peridot to make up for what she did to Garnet. But it doesn't seem to help.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this chapter isnt the most exciting but its plot relevant soooooooo here. chapter 7 is really good tho i promise

“So, Pearl.. About that adhesive to get me back home.. Where is it again?”   
  
Pearl looked up from working on Peridot’s escape pod. “Oh, it’s on another planet, but I don’t know which one.. For now, we can’t do much without knowing where it is or not having a way to get there.”   
  
“Hm.” Twoie sighed. “How do we find out?”   
  
“I don’t know..” She sighed, snipping a green wire inside the pod. “I think we might just need to scour the Earth and nearby planets for information about it.. There’s more than one time glass in the galaxy.. But then again, I don’t know where or how to get there. So..”   
  
“.... Do you think the diamonds would’ve known about the time glass and the adhesive?”   
  
Pearl paused her work, looking back up at Twoie. “Um.. I suppose so.. Though, we can’t just ask a diamond.”   
  
Twoie sighed. “There’s gotta be information somewhere.. Maybe the mo-”   
  
Peridot’s escape pod beeped and Pearl perked up. “Oh! Oh! It’s working! Garnet, look! I did it!”   
  
Garnet looked down on her, unresponsive. Pearl bit her lip. “U-um.. I think that she’s at the Galaxy Warp! Let’s go!”   
  
Steven got up and hopped on the warp pad with the rest of his family. They warped to the Galaxy Warp. He looked around and spotted Peridot.   
  
Pearl drew her spear and laughed triumphantly. “Ah-ha! Look! I was right! My plan worked perfectly!”

Steven waved to her. “Good morning!”

Peridot recoiled. “What?? How did you know I was here.”

Steven smirked. “We found a  _ se~cret  _ way to track you and we’ll never tell you how even if you ask nicely!” He stuck his tongue out. “Nyehhh!!~”

“Peridot!” Garnet barked. “We’re here to--”

Pearl puffed out her chest. “And you’ll never get away with this!”

“Don’t you gems have anything better to do than annoy me?”

“Nope!” Amethyst grinned. “We’re gonna--”   
  
“Prepare to be  _ annoyed _ !” Shouted Pearl. 

Peridot groaned. “I don’t have time for this!! This planet has an expiration date and I’m not gonna stick around to find out when!” She aimed her blaster at them, firing above them and breaking a pillar. Steven and Twoie gasped, both summoning their shields, blocking the pillar from hitting them. 

Peridot stared at them, looking back at her arm cannon. “Uhh.. hehe..”   
  
Pearl growled, running at her. “That’s it, I'm taking her out.”

“Pearl, wait!” Garnet called. 

Pearl lunged herself at Peridot. Peridot tensed and extended her arm, encasing Pearl in a green sphere.   
  
“Ha! Sorry, but you’re going the wrong way!” Peridot said. She flung Pearl around towards the rest of the gems. Steven got hit by Pearl, being flung backwards. His shield unsummoned, leaving Garnet to hold it up. 

He groaned, getting up from under her.    
  
“Pearl!!” He groaned, running towards Peridot. She fell back.

Peridot landed on a warp pad, bracing herself then groaning. “Ugh, doesn't anything work on this cruddy planet!?”

“I do!” 

Steven threw his shield at her, hitting her in the nose.   
  
“OW!”

Garnet threw the massive pillar block. “Amethyst, catch!”   
  
Amethyst used her whip to entangle the pillar, swinging it down onto Peridot. “ **DESTROY** !!”

Peridot was launched into the air. Pearl ran to catch her. 

“I got her, I got her!”   
  
Garnet ran too and they bumped into each other, missing Peridot as she flew back up, laughing.   
  
“ _ Pearl _ !” Garnet snarled. 

“Oh!”   
  
“Get off me!”   
  
Pearl got off. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry!” She whimpered, reaching towards Garnet then flinching back.

Steven focused back on Peridot.

“Wow, this is just sad.” Peridot cackled, landing on a warp pad. 

“I almost feel so-” Twoie’s shield slammed into her face. “ **_OW_ ** !” 

Twoie ran past Steven, throwing another one and slicing through the pillar behind her. Peridot looked up and screamed as it fell onto her body, poofing her and scattering her limb enhancers everywhere. Steven gasped, running forward and bubbling the gem.    
  
“WE GOT HER! WE GOT HER!!” He cheered. 

“What??” Pearl gasped, getting up. “O-oh my goodness! You got her! You- GARNET! LOOK!” She took the bubble from him, handing it to Garnet. “We got her! Isn’t that great?”   
  
Garnet took it and nodded. “Mhmm. That’s very good.”   
  
Pearl beamed. “Oh, finally! Now we can close this chapter and move on; Right, Garnet?”   
  
Garnet frowned again.

Amethyst picked up Peridot’s arm enhancer. “Ew.. There’s bits of her all over.”

Garnet shook her head. “No, she’s right here.” She tossed the bubble to Steven, who sent it off. “And, now, it’s in the temple.” Garnet finished.   
  
“So..” Pearl picked up a foot. “These weren’t actually part of her body..?”

Twoie picked up her foot before Amethyst can gather it up with the remaining limb enhancers. She knocked the other foot out of Pearl’s hands, dropping the parts into the ocean. “Whoops~” 

“Well, let’s head back to the temple.” Twoie said. “Not much left for us here.”   
  
“Right.” Pearl said. “This is finally over.”

They warped back to the temple. Garnet went to her room and Pearl sighed, going outside. Twoie laid on the couch and Amethyst and Steven went up to his bedroom. 

Steven sat down on the bed. “... Well, at least that’s over, right?”   
  
“It won’t help.” Amethyst sighed, knowing exactly what he was really talking about. “Even though Pearl practically handed over Peridot on a silver platter, it won’t make up for the stunt she pulled to get Garnet to fuse with her.”

Steven hummed. “... But.. they’ll make up one day, right?”   
  
“I dunno, Steven..” Amethyst shrugged. “Maybe. They might never bounce back.”   
  
Steven pressed his lips together and walked to the edge of his bedroom, looking down at Twoie.   
  
“Hey, Twoie!”   
  
Twoie jumped, startled out of his thoughts. “Huh?”   
  
“Do Pearl and Garnet ever make up?”   
  
“Yeah!”   
  
Steven gasped. “Really!? How?”   
  
“Uhhhh..” He frowned. “I don’t.. Remember..”   
  
Amethyst groaned. “Well, the only thing they could talk about is catching Peridot.. And now that she’s gone..”   
  
“Well.. we aren’t done with her yet.” Twoie said.   
  
“How so?” Steven asked.   
  
“She knows something you all don’t. And in order to get her help in defeating it, I think we gotta get the information out of her. Gain her trust.”   
  
“Oh! An interrogation!?” Amethyst enthused, getting up and running down the stairs. 

“What? N-”   
  
She was gone. Twoie groaned. “Ugh..”   
  
“What’s wrong?”   
  
Twoie looked up. “This isn’t how it went last time.. I have no idea what’s going to happen now..”   
  
“How’d it go last time?”   
  
“We poofed her later. I think. She said something about the Cluster and that’s what led us to interrogating her.”   
  
“The Cluster..?”   
  
Twoie’s eyes widened. “Uh- shit- OH--” He covered his mouth. Steven gasped.   
  
“YOU SAID A SWEAR!!”   
  
“I’m sorry! Please don’t tell Pearl.”   
  
“I won’t.. But in exchange, you gotta tell me what the Cluster is.” He walked down the steps, sitting on the couch next to Twoie.   
  
“I’m not sure I should..”   
  
“Why not?”   
  
“I haven’t thought out how it’ll affect us all yet! If we don’t have Peridot to explain the Cluster to us, she might never become a Crystal Gem!”   
  
“She becomes a Crystal Gem!?”   
  
Twoie facepalmed. “I’ve said too much..”

“YO!!” Amethyst called from the doorway. “GET IN HERE! WE’RE GONNA INTERRO-- uh.” She looked inside. “Wh- PEARL!! DON’T LET HER OUT YET!”   
  
“PEARL!” Garnet yelled from inside. Steven got up and watched as Peridot scrambled out of the doorway on all fours. He gasped.   
  
“She’s so cute and short!!”   
  
Twoie got up, summoning his shield. Pearl chased Peridot, swinging and firing her spear wildly. It drove her away from the door and she ran up the stairs. Amethyst swung her whip and tied her up, yanking her back down to the floor.    
  
“Listen, you-”   
  
“LISTEN, YOU!” Pearl shrieked over her. “YOU’RE GOING TO TELL US EVERYTHING RIGHT NOW OR WE’LL POOF YOU AGAIN!”   
  
“Pearl! Calm down!” Garnet snapped. Pearl recoiled. “B-but-”   
  
“But NOTHING! I’ve had ENOUGH!”   
  
Garnet stomped on Peridot’s waist, poofing her and bubbling her gem. “We’ll do this another time.”   
  
“But Garnet-”   
  
“ANOTHER TIME, PEARL.”

Pearl winced, shrinking in on herself as Garnet walked back into her room. She sighed. 

Steven sunk into the couch, wishing they would just stop being mad already. But he wasn’t sure if he could help.. It might be like Ruby and Sapphire..

“.... Hey, Twoie?” Pearl asked.   
  
Twoie looked up. Pearl wrung her hands together, couching down in front of him. “You.. um. You’ve seen this all before, right? You’ve seen how it plays out?”   
  
“Uhhh.. kinda..?”   
  
“Do.. do you know what I can do?”   
  
“....” He bit his lip, sitting up. “I.. I don’t remember how you guys resolve this.. But I know that already this is.. Vastly different from last time.”   
  
“Oh.” Pearl sighed.   
  
“But!” Twoie stood. “I.. I think you should just talk to her. Be open and honest and.. Stop obsessing over being forgiven so quickly. And Peridot. Peridot has nothing to do with.. You guys.”    
  
Pearl considered his words for a moment then nodded slowly. She looked towards the door and ran a hand through her hair. “I.. I suppose I could give it a shot. But.. she seems so mad..”   
  
“Give her a minute, then.” Amethyst said. “If she’s mad now, she’ll cool down soon. Then you can talk to her.”   
  
Pearl nodded. “Right. Um. Thank you for your advice, Twoie and Amethyst. Uh.. Steven, you have any suggestions?”   
  
Steven sweated. “Uh.. J-just do what they said?”   
  
Pearl snoofed. “Alright. I will. Um.. goodbye.”   
  
She walked into her room.

Amethyst sighed. “Jeez.. I hope they work it o-”   
  
Pearl walked out again, and then went into Garnet’s room.   
  
“... Dude.” Amethyst deadpanned. Twoie breathed out a laugh of disbelief. “She’s going in NOW??”   
  
“I guess so!” Amethyst got up. “Oh, man.. This is gonna be bad..”   
  
Steven frowned. “What are you doing?”   
  
“I wanna see how it goes.”   
  
Steven whined. “But.. it’s their business..”   
  
Amethyst shrugged. “Whatever. If you wanna join me, I’ll keep my door open!”   
  
She walked into her room. The door stayed open.

“...”

“....”   
  
Steven gulped, looking up at Twoie. “Is.. is it wrong to eavesdrop?”   
  
“I… don’t know.” Twoie leaned back. “You do what you want.. I got some stuff to think over.”   
  
“Okay.” Steven got up, racing after Amethyst. He was curious too. He found her kneeling to the ground, peeking into a hole.   
  
“Amethyst!”   
  
“Sh!” She looked up. “They’re talking. C’mere and be quiet.”   
  
Steven tiptoed over and leaned down, listening in.

“Garnet, I’m sorry!” Pearl’s voice rang from below. She sounded desperate. Garnet growled. “I don’t wanna hear your excuses anymore!”   
  
“Please, I.. I’m just-”   
  
“Stop it!”   
  
“Garnet, just let me speak.. I promise I won’t w-waste your time.”   
  
“You already have.”   
  
Amethyst hissed. “Harsh..”

Steven leaned further over the hole, looking in and seeing them. Pearl was stood behind Garnet, who was facing away with her arms crossed.

“Things.. Weren’t supposed to turn out this way..” Pearl sighed, wringing her hands together. “I.. I really wanted to make up for what I did by catching Peridot. I.. I thought that if I caught her.. I could prove to you that you could trust me.”   
  
Pearl sat down, her head in her hand.   
  
“But I was  _ wrong _ . We caught Peridot and nothing’s changed. I.. This isn’t about Peridot, right?”   
  
“No, of course not.”   
  
Pearl nodded. “R-right. So.. I.. I just wanted to say I’m sorry. I just.. I couldn’t help myself.”   
  
“Couldn’t help yourself!?” Garnet turned around, her teeth grit and her hands in fists. “You could’ve helped yourself! You’re perfectly capable of self control!”   
  
“But it’s true! No matter how hard I try to be strong like you..”   
  
She curled in on herself, putting her hands over her face and sniffling.   
  
“I.. I’m just a pearl.. I’m useless on my own.. I.. need someone to tell me what to do.”

Garnet’s shoulders relaxed. She looked over her. Pearl sighed and wiped her eyes, running a hand through her hair.   
  
“When we fuse.. I can feel what it’s like to be you: confident and secure and.. Complete. You’re  _ perfect _ .” She choked, uncurling slightly and looking down at the floor in shame. “You’re.. The perfect relationship-- you’re always together. I just-- I wanted to be a part of that.”

“You’re wrong.” Garnet declared, stepping towards her. “I’m not as strong as you think. I-I fell  _ apart  _ over this. Ruby and Sapphire were in turmoil over how you deceived me.. I.. I came undone.”

“Whoa.” Amethyst breathed. “That really happened..?”   
  
Steven nodded. 

Garnet kneeled down, looking Pearl in the eye.    
  
“It’s not easy being in control. I have weaknesses too. But I choose not to let them consume me. I struggle to stay strong because I know the impact I have on everyone.”   
  
Pearl nodded silently. Garnet put a hand on her shoulder.    
  
“Please understand, Pearl, you have an impact, too. There are times where.. I look up to  _ you  _ for strength.  _ You  _ are  _ your own  _ gem.  _ You  _ control your destiny. Not me, not Rose, not Steven. But you must choose to be strong so we can move forward.”   
  
She sat down next to her.

“So I can trust you again.”

Pearl looked up at her and smiled sadly.    
  
“I.. I understand. I  _ can’t  _ give up anymore.”

“Good.” Garnet affirmed, patting her on the back. 

Pearl sighed. “Thank you for.. For listening to me.”   
  
“Thank you for talking to me.”   
  
Pearl chuckled. “You’re a wonderful gem, Garnet. I’m sorry I hurt you. I’m sorry I.. I deceived you and.. I’m sorry I was selfish. I promise to never do that again.”   
  
Garnet nodded and put her hand on Pearl’s leg sympathetically. Pearl smiled and opened her arms. Garnet hesitated before opening hers and they hugged.    
  
“Aww..” Steven cooed. 

They let go after a moment and Pearl left, waving goodbye. Garnet waved back and brought down Peridot’s bubble, pondering to herself and looking at it. 

Steven got up and sat away from the hole. “Man, I’m glad that’s settled.

“Me, too.” Amethyst groaned, laying back.  _ “Finally.” _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> leave a comment if u enjoyed!


	7. Nightmare Hospital

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Connie's mother steals Rose's sword. Steven, Connie, and Twoie must go inside the hospital to retrieve it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thanks to my beta reader spidergem on tumblr!

“Twoie.” Steven whispered. “Twooooie.” 

Twoie groaned in his sleep, rolling over.   
  
“Are you sure we gotta bring him..?” Connie whispered. “He’s much bigger than us..”   
  
“But he’s an adult! Uh- almost. He can cover for us if anybody sees we’re there!”   
  
“Kids are allowed in hospitals.”   
  
“Not at night!! He can cover as an employee! Also, if anything dangerous happens, he knows a lot about fighting. He poofed Peridot!”   
  
“Oh, really?” Connie gasped. “Okay. Yeah. Let’s take him.”   
  
“Huh..?” Twoie opened his eyes. Steven stepped back. “Twoie!” He whisper-yelled. “Wake up! We need to take you somewhere!”   
  
Twoie jolted and leapt out of bed, stumbling onto his feet. 

“YOU’LL NE’ER TAKE ME, YOU  _ ASS’OLES!!” _ He slurred, knocking into the table and summoning his shield.

Connie gasped. “What a potty mouth!”

Steven winced and walked up to him. “Twoie! Twoie! It’s us!”   
  
“HU-h..?” Twoie looked down, squinting. “Who..? Steven?? What the.. What’re you doing..?”   
  
“And and Connie have to go rescue mom’s sword from the hospital! Come help us!”   
  
“Huh..?”   
  
“Please, Twoie?” Connie begged. “Steven says you’re really strong!”   
  
Twoie rubbed his eyes and shrugged. “Eh.. whatever.. Just.. let me help ‘ya so I can get back to sleep..”

“Yay!” Steven cheered, climbing on Lion. “C’mon!”   
  
Connie hopped up. Twoie looked at them and then climbed into his mane, hunkering down so only his face was out. He shut his eyes again. “Snzzzz..”   
  
“Hey! No sleeping! You could die in there!” Steven whispered, smacking him lightly. Twoie shouted and then sighed. “Ughhhhh..”   
  
“Okay, Lion. Take us to the hospital, please!” Steven said. Lion roared and leapt through the portal. They arrived behind the hospital, Steven flying off and hanging onto Lion’s snout so he didn’t hit the ground. Twoie sank into Lion, back asleep. Connie grabbed his hair and yanked him up. Twoie squealed and swatted her hand away, climbing out of his mane. Connie got off of Lion. 

“Sorry for pulling your hair.. There’s just no air in there and-”   
  
“I know.” Twoie said. He yawned. “It’s fine.”

Connie looked to Steven. “We can’t bring Lion inside. I’d feel really bad if my mom confiscated him, too.”

“Oh, it’s no problem! He can stay out here. Look! I finally found a way to get him to do what I want.”

Steven held up a couple of half-melted Lion Lickers and Lion chomped down on them, shaking them around and growling. Steven and Connie backed up, startled. Steven tsked.    
  
“He didn’t even take the plastic off.”

“What an  _ animal _ .” 

Connie and Steven giggled to each other. 

“Okay, serious.” Connie said.   
  
“Yeah, serious.” Steven repeated. “Twoie, you ready?”

“Huh?” Twoie turned towards them, slumped over with drool dried on his chin. His eyes were shut. “Wassup?”   
  
“Ugh.” Steven sighed. “C’mon.. We gotta go get the sword back..” He grabbed his hand and led him into the hospital. Twoie furrowed his brows. “Wait.. hospital..? H-hold up.” He opened his eyes as the doors shut behind him. “U-uh.. wait..” He looked around. “Oh, god. Wait. Is- what’s going on??”   
  
Connie frowned. “We’re getting your mom’s sword back from my mom..?”   
  
Twoie gasped and ran to the door, pushing on it frantically. It didn’t budge. He whimpered. “No, no! No! It’s locked! Shit! LET ME OUT!”   
  
“Twoie! Shush!” Steven warned. “Someone might hear you!”   
  
Twoie turned around, panting heavily. Connie walked up to him and put a hand on his shoulder to comfort him. “W-whoa.. Twoie..? What’s wrong? D-do you have Nosocomephobia?”

“Noso-- huh?”   
  
“A phobia of hospitals.”   
  
“N-no.. just.. I.. it’s not safe here.” He covered his face. “Oh, god..”

Steven gulped. “Um..”   
  
Suddenly, from down the hall, there was a low wheeze. Twoie stiffened up and his shield summoned. “ _ Oh god _ .”

Connie moved to his side. “Hey, hey, it’s okay. It was just the wind. It’s fine. You’re gonna be okay. We- we’ll find a way out.”   
  
Twoie nodded. “S-sorry.”

Steven crouched by him and gave him a hug.    
  
“We’ll be okay.”   
  
Twoie smiled weakly. “Heh.. y-yeah.. Yeah..” He nodded. “M.. maybe this time’ll be different! Let’s u-uhm.. Find your sword, Connie.”

“It’s his mom’s-”   
  
“Doesn’t matter.” Twoie stood up. “Let’s just.. G-get this over with.”   
  
Steven stood too and grabbed hold of Twoie’s hand. Twoie smiled down at him as Connie took his other hand in hers. Twoie chuckled and moved back, connecting Connie and Steven’s hands instead. Moving to hold Steven's free hand. Steven and Connie blushed, glancing at each other before advancing down the hall.

They ran past doctors, squeaking down the hall. Twoie had to take off his jacket at one point, citing it was “too bright” and tying it around his waist. They heard footsteps behind them and saw Connie’s mom walking down the hall. They all ducked underneath a table.

She passed them and picked up her ringing cell phone. 

“Yes, yes, I just got here. Mhmm. Mhmm.”

She rounded the corner and they all snuck after her, Steven and Connie leading the way. Priyanka walked into a room, shutting the door behind her. Connie and Steven walked up to the window, peeking through the blinds. Twoie stood off to the side, looking around anxiously.

Steven watched as Priyanka examined a deformed patient underneath a cloth. She was saying words, but he couldn’t hear them.   
  
“You doing okay?” Connie whispered to Twoie.   
  
“L-less scary than I remember!” Twoie laughed frantically. “He-hehe.. Oh my god.”

Connie held his hand and peeked through the window again. 

Priyanka brought out a stethoscope and held it under the cloth. Steven tilted his head.   
  
“What’s she doing?”

“She’s probably checking their vitals. Haven’t you been to a hospital before?” Asked Connie.

“No?”   
  
“Huh. Lucky. Oh!” She pointed inside to Rose’s saber and scabbard tucked inside her mom’s duffle bag. Steven smiled. There! They just had to get into the room..

Priyanka moved back in her chair and they ducked down, watching the door. Twoie ducked too. 

Priyanka walked out quickly and they went inside, shutting the door behind them. Twoie sped to the sword, reaching to grab it.

The patient screeched, startling them all. Twoie whimpered and backed into the wall, summoning his shield again. “Oh god, oh god, oh god.”   
  
Steven glanced up at him. “Twoie.. It’s just a patient..”   
  
“No, it’s not!!”

Connie grabbed the duffle bag while Steven walked over and held Twoie’s hand. “Hey.. hey..” He soothed, rubbing circles into his palm. “B-breathe with me, okay? In and out..”   
  
Twoie sniffled. “I-I’m sorry I’m freaking out.. I just.. I never thought i’d have to be here again.. I..” He shut his eyes. “God, I’m sorry. I-It isn't t-that big of a deal. I-ignore me.”   
  
“No, no, hey.” Steven squeezed his hand. “Your feelings are valid.”

“Steven, we gotta go.” Connie whispered. 

The door opened behind her. Her mother gaped at her.

“Connie!” 

“Oh, no!” Steven whined. 

“How did you even-- what are you doing with this?!” She snatched back the duffle bag. “I made a rule! No swords under any circumstances!!”

“But mom!”   
  
“We will finish this conversation at home!”

There was clattering down the hall. Priyanka frowned and opened the door, squinting into the distance.

“Sir? Ma’am? Dr. West? Ugh, he can’t take a day off, can he?”

She turned on her flashlight, illuminating the deformed creature and it’s gem. 

“You??” She turned to the kids. “It’s my other patient--” She turned back. “What are you doing out of bed? Why aren’t you with Dr. Straumburg?”

Steven stared at the patient and felt chills run through his spine upon seeing it’s gem.

“That’s not a patient..”

It roared, dragging itself quickly down the hall on its stubby legs and giant, muscular arm.

“Aah!” Priyanka squeaked, shutting the door and pushing the kids inside. Steven panted as he heard it slamming itself against the door. Was this what Twoie was so freaked out about!? 

“I don’t know what’s going on here, but I am going to get to the bottom of it.” 

“Connie, I think that’s one of the gem mutants.” Steven whispered to her.    
  
“What?” Connie paled. “Are you sure?”   
  
“Preeetty sure at this point.”

“Mom!” Connie came forward, reaching up for the duffel bag. “I really, really, really, need that sword!”

“Connie, no, now is not the time!”   
  
Twoie whimpered in the corner, looking frantically back and forth between the door and the ‘patient’ behind the curtain. Priyanka turned to him and frowned. “Wh- who are you?!”   
  
“U-uh-” Twoie stammered. “I-I’m Steven’s older brother--”

“Wh-” She turned to Connie. “You never mentioned Steven had a brother!”

Connie grit her teeth, eyes trained on the sword. “Uhh-”   
  
“I-I’m usually at college! I’m just here for the summer! Heheh..”

Priyanka turned to him and Connie grabbed the sword, hoisting it onto her shoulder. Priyanka gasped. “Connie!”   
  
“I really need this sword, mom!”

“No, you do NOT!” Priyanka shouted, grabbing the end of the scabbard and pulling it from her grasp.   


“Ma’am, she really does need that sword!” Twoie called out. Priyanka snarled and turned around. “She is  **twelve** years old!!”

“So??”   
  
“S-  **SO** ?! How old are you, young man!?”

“Uh, seventeen?”

“You can’t be in  _ college _ !”

Twoie sweated, backing up. “Uhh.. I skipped.. A few years?”   
  
_ “WELL IF YOU’RE SO SMART YOU SHOULD KNOW THAT A TWELVE YEAR OLD CAN’T BE PLAYING WITH  _ **_SWORDS_ ** _!!” _ _   
_   
Connie grabbed the sword again. “Mom! I know how to use this! I-”   
  
The monster burst out from behind the curtain, grabbing her and pulling her in.   
  
“ _ Connie _ !” Priyanka shouted. The curtain cascaded down, revealing the horrifying six-armed gem mutant trying to pull Connie apart.

**_“Mom!!”_ **

Steven rushed forward, eyes wide and muscles tense. “I’ll save you!”   
  
He summoned his shield and hurled Connie out of harm's way. The beast slammed down onto his shield and pushed him back into the tile. He grit his teeth, feeling protective adrenaline crash through his veins.    
  
_ “KEEP YOUR HANDS OFF MY CONNIE!” _

He shoved the beast back, growling. Twoie ran in and slammed into the beasts chest with a spiked bubble glove, knocking it against the wall. He snarled and grabbed it’s arms, trying to pull it apart. Steven joined in, gripping it’s gems and pulling hard. Twoie reached down and pulled with him. They dislodged the gems and fell back apart the hard tile. Steven bubbled and sent it off immediately, panting and laughing in distress. Twoie stood up, shaking and holding his hands over his mouth. He was crying. 

“MOTHER KNOWS BEST!” Priyanka shouted. She looked towards the door and grabbed an operation table, shoving it out the door and into the monster. She pushed the table down the hall and the monster chased it. They backed up and ran down the hall, Steven and Twoie in tow.    
  
“We gotta find an exit!” Shouted Steven. Priyanka made a sharp left then stopped. “Oh no. It’s him again!”

They turned to run the other way, but found a dead end. The monster closed it, knocking Connie down the dead end.   
  
“CONNIE!” Priyanka shouted, rushing to her. They were cornered.   
  
“We’re trapped!” Twoie wailed.

“W-we don’t have to be!” Connie said, standing up. 

The beast sprinted at them and Twoie screamed.    
  
**_“STOP!!”_ **

A bright pink glow lit up the hallway, emanating from Twoie’s skin. Steven gaped as a pink wall formed between them and the monster. Each plate was diamond-shaped. Was that a new power?

Priyanka stared at him, too, backing up. Twoie stood his ground, glaring down the monster as his skin pulsed fuschia. 

“Mom, I know how to do this!” Connie begged, looking up at Priyanka. She looked down at her and held her duffel bag closer.    


“No, you don’t!”

Steven groaned. “Yes, she does! She’s been training! She wasn’t playing around with that sword, she was taking classes, learning how to use it right! Even though she’s always studying, or practising Tennis, or doing her homework-- she still works  _ really  _ hard to be a good sword fighter!”

Priyanka stepped back, sweating. “No, no. no, nonononono-- I KNOW my daughter. I know what she’s doing every second of the day! All her  _ activities _ , all her  _ internets _ , I know she’s definitely not some sword fighting  **hooligan** !”

Connie’s fists shook. “YOU DON’T KNOW ME AT  **ALL** ! YOU STILL HAVEN’T EVEN NOTICED MY  _ GLASSES _ !”   
  
“What’s  _ wrong  _ with your glasses??”

“THEY DON’T HAVE LENSES ANYMORE!” She snapped, yanking off her glasses and poking her fingers through the frames. “I haven’t needed actual glasses for almost a YEAR now!”   
  
“What? You eyesight just-  _ magically  _ got better?”

Connie threw her hands out. “YES!!!!! I’ve been dealing with magic and monsters and things like these--” 

The monster thumped against the wall.

“-- since I  _ met  _ Steven! That’s why I need you to believe that I know what to DO here!”

“But you-- ah..” Priyanka started. 

Connie groaned. “Ugh! There’s no time for this!”    
  
She grabbed the saber and widened her stance, turning towards the monster. 

Steven looked back. “Ready?”   
  
“Drop the wall.”   
  
…

“Uh, Twoie?” Connie looked up. Twoie looked back at her. “H-huh?”   
  
“Drop the wall.”   
  
“Why??”   
  
“Because I’m gonna kill it! Now move!!”   
  
Twoie winced and his glow faded. He took a few steps back and summoned his bubble, bracing. The diamond wall disassembled itself. 

The creature roared, slipping through the cracks and lunging at Connie. In one sure strike, she poofed the beast and landed behind the cloud. It’s gem clattered to the ground and Steven picked it up, bubbling it and sending it off. He walked up to her and smiled, proud. Connie smiled back then glanced at her mother.

Her mother stared in confusion and disbelief, mouth open and brows creasing. “...”

\----

They were walking out of the hospital, finally having found an exit. Steven explained the gem experiments to Priyanka, and she silently took in the information until he finished.   
  
“So.. that’s why it had no pulse.” She concluded. “Gem experiments.. This is what you’ve been doing?” She asked Connie. “Training to fight these  _ things _ ?” 

She looked up at Lion and backed up. “Aah!”   
  
“Sorry, Dr. Maheshwaran. That’s my lion..” Steven chuckled. Connie handed him Rose’s saber and walked up to her mother.    
  
“Mom, I’m really sorry about lying to you. It started off as a tiny secret, and then it felt like if I didn’t hide it, you wouldn’t let me see Steven ever again.”

Priyanka frowned. “Is that how you feel? Are we.. too controlling?”

Connie looked down. “Maybe…”

“I just wanted to be a good mother. I-- I just wanted to protect you.”

“I can protect myself now.”

Steven saw the emotion in her mother’s eyes when she said that. Priyanka sighed deeply.    
  
“Okay. We’ll.. Pull back on the rules.” She kneeled down. “And I’ll try to keep an open mind about this--” She gestured to Connie. “And that--” To Lion. “And… them.” To Steven and Twoie. 

Steven hunched his shoulders up awkwardly. 

“It scares me that you can’t talk to me.” She said, holding Connie’s shoulders. “I need to know what’s happening in your life. I need to  _ step in _ when you’re in over your head. Will you just promise me you’ll stop all this lying?”

Connie smiled bittersweetly. “That’s a rule.” She shrugged.    
  
Priyanka smiled and hugged her.   
  
“I love you, honey.”

“I love you, too, mom.”

Steven smiled weakly and looked down at his mother’s symbol on the scabbard. He held it close, wishing she were here.   
  
“Well.. We’re going to head home. You boys need a ride?” Priyanka asked, getting up.    
  
“No, we’re good. We can take Lion back.” Steven said. Priyanka looked at the Lion and hummed. “Well.. alright.. Uh--” She looked at Twoie. “You should drink some water and get some rest when you get home-- uh.. What’s your name?”   
  
“T-Twoie.”   
  
“Twoie.” She nodded. “Take care of yourself. I know that what happened in there was scary, but you’ll be alright. They’re gone now, right?”   
  
“I-I think so..”   
  
She smiled. “Mhmm.”   
  
“Goodnight, Steven!” Called Connie, walking back to her mother’s car. Steven waved. “Goodnight, Connie!”   


Steven waited until they were safely in the car and driving off to reinsert Rose’s sword into Lion’s mane and climb on.   
  
“C’mon, Twoie.”   
  
Twoie climbed up, gripping Steven’s shirt and shaking slightly. Steven hesitated for a minute, listening to his quickened breathing.   
  
“... Are you alright?”   
  
“Mhmm. L-let’s go home. I just wanna go home.”   
  
“Okay.” Steven nodded. He looked back at Twoie. Twoie was looking towards the hospital, eyes wide, sweat coating his forehead. He untied his jacket from his waist and put it on, hugging himself. 

He glanced back at Steven.

“We going?”

Steven looked away. “Yes. Um. C’mon Lion, let’s go.”   


Lion started to gallop home. Steven sighed. A portal would’ve been better, but honestly, it was a miracle he listened to him at all..

They rocked up and down as Lion went down the cold sidewalk. The sky was an empty void tonight, the light of the blue streetlights blocking galaxies from peering in. It was just them, Lion, and the cold night air. 

Steven found his mind drifting as they rode. He thought back to the hospital, and his mind re-contextualized Twoie’s fear. He understood now, and his hands started shaking too. He shook his head. He didn’t wanna freak out, not now. Though he knew he wouldn’t be able to hold it back as it caught up to him, he still had hope he wouldn’t have to process the horrible events of tonight. 

He remembered something else: Twoie’s pink skin. What was that? And the diamond walls? He had no idea he could do that.. Although, he swore he could’ve seen it before. When Twoie walked away from Pearl and the sunset coated everything, he brushed it off as a trick of the light. And down in Peridot’s gem experiment chamber, there was a pink light on the walls that he had no explanation for, but now he did. He shuddered as he remembered Garnet and Twoie sobbing, fighting off the monsters- no- her fallen friends.

He sighed deeply. Why didn’t he listen? He could’ve avoided that..

He came back to reality and heard Twoie’s panting, felt his shaking, clammy, hands. He glanced back at him.    
  
“Hey, you okay?”   
  
“Yep.”   
  
“You’re.. You’re not, though.”   
  
“Then why’d you e-even ask?”   
  
Steven frowned. “Um. Dunno.”

“...”

Steven looked at him fully. 

“It’s okay to.. To be afraid. If you need some help, I’m here.”   
  
“I’m fine, Steven, stop as-asking.”   
  
“I know you were scared a few days ago with Garnet, so-”   
  
Twoie hiccuped and buried his face in his hands. Steven paled. “W-whoa- what--”   
  
Twoie started sobbing, pulling at his hair and curling up more. Steven felt the anxiety creep up him again and he turned back to lion, hands shaky. 

“L-lion, p-pull over for a sec.”   
  
Lion slowed to a stop then laid down on the sidewalk, leaving them to flop down in the grass. Twoie pulled his jacket over his head and turned away. 

“Twoie.. Twoie, hey..”

Twoie didn’t respond. 

Steven scooted closer. “Do you want a hug..?”   
  
Twoie shook his head, then nodded, then shook it again.   
  
“.... Is it okay to hug you?”   
  
Twoie nodded.   
  
Steven crawled into Twoie’s lap and hugged him so they could be heart-to-heart. Twoie sniffled and hugged him back, burying his face in Steven’s shoulder.   
  
“I’m s-sorry..” He hiccuped. Steven shook his head. “Don’t be.”

“N-no.. you’re a k-kid!! You shouldn’t--” He choked, coughing and then sobbing harder. “You shouldn’t have to deal with me.. With this..”   
  
“It’s okay.. I wanna h-help.”   
  
Twoie sniffled. “I know you do, but th-that’s..”   
  
Steven rubbed his back and held him closer. 

“It’s okay. I wanna help my friend.”   
  
Twoie gasped, then wept into Steven’s shirt again. “Mm..”   
  
Steven smiled sadly and let his hand drop from his back. He didn’t want Twoie to feel how freaked out he was starting to get, too. He felt something hard in Twoie’s pocket and furrowed his brows. He tapped it and it shook. What..?   
  
He took the bottle of pills out of his pocket and gasped. Twoie looked up and winced. “Steven--”   
  
“Did you steal these??”   
  
“.... What?”   
  
“D-did you take these from the hospital??” Steven frowned, examining the bottle of blue pills.   
  
“N-no.. They’re mine.” Twoie said slowly, reaching for the pills. Steven furrowed his brow and looked down at the label.    
  
“What would you need.. ‘Ser-tra-line’ for?”   
  
Twoie sighed. “C-can I p-please just have them back..?”

Steven handed the pills back to him and Twoie started fidgeting with the lid, clicking it. Steven figured it must be because he was still nervous. He wished he had something to mess around with.

“So.. why do you have them?” He asked. “Are you sick?”   
  
“N-no..” Twoie sighed. “I.. um..” He breathed out deeply, calming himself a little. “I take them for my mental health.. They help me deal with life and make it so I don't feel too overwhelmed or anything.”

“.... Oh.” Steven frowned. He had heard about stuff like that before, but had never actually met someone with a mental illness. (At least he didn't think he had.).

“Yeah..”   
  
“.... What do you have?”   
  
Twoie smacked his lips and sighed. “Uhh.. Anxiety, Depression, and uh, PTSD..” He mumbled.

“....” Steven frowned. “.... Um.. What’s.. What does that all mean? I mean.. I know that when you’re anxious, you’re scared.. And when you’re depressed, you’re sad.. But--”   
  
“It’s not exactly like that for me. Well, for people like me, too. Anxiety just means I uh.. I have an anxiety disorder. Which makes me nervous more often than someone without it. And.. um..” He groaned. “This is hard to explain..”

“You don’t have to explain it if you don’t wanna..”   
  
“No, no, it’s okay.. Um.. So.. that’s anxiety. And.. depression means sometimes I’m less motivated to do stuff and.. Sometimes I’m just, sad.. But it's more than that. So the meds help counteract that. And PTSD..” He frowned. 

“That’s because um.. I saw a lot of bad stuff when I was a kid.”   
  
Steven’s eyes widened.

So that’s why he was trying to get him to stay away from missions..

“T-the thing with G-Garnet and the hospital just now.. Are things like that.” He sighed. “So.. So that’s why I.. I freaked out when we went back there. And why I said you couldn’t come.”   
  
Steven hugged him.

“I understand.”   
  
Twoie laughed weakly. “Mm.. Yeah.. I--.. I just never thought I’d have to go through that again..”   
  
“.... You don’t.. Have to. You can just stay at home.”   
  
“But then you’ll have to do it. It's better if I do it.”   
  
“No..”   
  
“Well, if you never do it, then you won’t turn out like me.” He pat his head. “So.. it makes sense.”   
  
Steven huffed. “You gotta take care of yourself, too.”   
  
Twoie blinked.

“…”

He chuckled, a fond twinkle in his eye. “I guess you’re right. Maybe uh.. Maybe I’ll try not to..”   
  
“Do stuff that’ll make you sad?”   
  
He nodded. “Yeah. But that goes for you, too. No dangerous stuff that’ll make you like me.”   
  
“.... Is being like you really that bad?”   
  
“Well..” Twoie frowned. “... I used to be really,  _ really _ , bad. Everyday felt awful and.. And..” 

He looked away.   
  
“... I was in a very dark place at 16 and early 17. It was very,  _ very _ , bad before I got medication and therapy.”

“Therapy..? Isn’t that just for really sad people?”   
  
Twoie shook his head. “No, Steven. It’s for anyone.”

“Mm.” He nodded. “Sorry I’m asking so many questions..”   
  
“It’s okay, you’re a kid, you.. You’re curious.”   
  
Steven nodded again. “Yeah. Um.”   
  
He looked down, climbing off of Twoie’s lap. 

“Is there anything else you.. You wanna talk about?”   
  
He shook his head. “No. I feel better now.”   
  
Steven smiled. “Good. I’m glad you’re not.. Shaking anymore.”   
  
“I still feel a little shaky, but..” He shrugged. “Eh. It’ll go away in the morning. Let’s go home.”   
  
“Okay.” Steven said, getting up and tapping Lion. Lion yawned and sat up. Steven climbed on with Twoie behind him and they dashed off through a portal home.

\----

That night, the events of earlier caught up to Steven. He woke up from a nightmare in a cold sweat, shaking and crying. He gripped his stuffed bear and choked out a sob, trying to calm himself down. It wasn't working, why wasn’t it working??

He wiped his eyes and looked down towards where Twoie was. He hopped out of bed and went down the stairs, moving to wake him. He stopped. What was he doing..? Waking up someone just because he had a stupid  _ nightmare _ ? He wasn’t a kid anymore.. He didn’t need to do that..

Before he could go back upstairs, Twoie woke up and blearily looked at Steven.

“Steven..?”   
  
Steven tensed and held his bear closer. “U-um..”   
  
Twoie frowned. “Whoa.. you’re shakin’.. What’s up?”   
  
“N-nightmare. So-sorry, I shouldn’t have--”   
  
“It’s okay. You wanna talk it out?”   
  
“.... Can I sleep with you tonight? I..” He wiped his head. “I know that’s stupid a-and I’m not a kid anymore.. But.. it used to- to- to help..”   
  
Twoie thought for a moment before nodding. “Yeah, of course. You wanna sleep on the couch or the bed?”   
  
Steven looked upstairs, then back down to the couch. “B-bed.”   
  
“Okay..”

Twoie brought him upstairs and they got under the covers. Steven felt a little weird about it-- since it was himself comforting him and he was in bed with someone else. But he figured that.. It wasn’t as weird as last time he time travelled. And it wasn’t weird as long as he didn’t make it weird. He just needed someone right now..   
  
Steven talked to Twoie about his nightmare and the hospital. Twoie listened patiently and held him when he started to sob again. Then, he explained to Steven what a panic attack was. That it was completely normal after a night like tonight and that after a while, he should calm down. That he would be fine.   
  
Steven nodded along, reassuring himself, too. He would be fine. A panic attack is fine. Everything is fine and would be fine. He nuzzled Twoie and shut his eyes, trying to breathe evenly. Twoie helped him by counting his breaths.

Steven fell asleep 15 minutes later, breathing evenly and drooling onto Twoie’s shirt. Twoie smiled and drifted off to sleep along with him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> leave a comment if u enjoyed!


	8. Sadie's Song

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Twoie rediscovers something he used to enjoy

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is a short! Hope u like it. uploading specially early!

“That was great, Steven!” Twoie beamed, slapping him on the back in congratulations. Steven laughed, taking off his heels and holding them so he could walk on the sand.   
  
“Thanks, Twoie!! Oh, man, I had no idea performing was like that!! It was so fun!!”   
  
Twoie chuckled. 

They walked past a few people, who complimented Steven and said hello. He waved back and thanked them, getting onto the boardwalk and putting his heels back on.   
  
“Say, Twoie.. Do you know if I do any more performances in the future?”   
  
“Oh, nah. I’m not really a performer anymore.. Although, there was this one time with my dad.. Ah, forget it.”   
  
Steven whined. “Aww.. That sucks, I’d like to wear something like this again.. It’s so colourful.”   
  
“You can still wear stuff like that normally.”    
  
Steven gasped. “Do you ever wear skirts??”   
  
“Uhhhh.. No..” He frowned. “Though, I don’t know why..”   
  
An idea popped into Steven’s head and he stood up, grabbing Twoie’s hand. “I just got the  _ best  _ idea-- we gotta get back to the house!”

“Uh- okay!”   
  
Steven dragged Twoie back to the house and brought him up to his room, sitting him down on the bed. He opened his drawers and brought out a pink makeup case. He sat down on the bed and opened up the case. Twoie recoiled.   
  
“Uhhhh”   
  
“What?” Steven frowned. “I wanna give you a makeover!! Since you said that you never dress up anymore!”   
  
“....” Twoie blushed, looking around. “There- there’s a reason for that..”   
  
“Why..?”   
  
“What if.. I’m not a  _ kid  _ anymore.. What if someone judges me..?”   
  
Steven huffed. “Nobody in Beach City is gonna judge you. And if they do, I’ll.. I’ll protect you.”   
  
Twoie bit his lip. Steven grabbed some glitter and sprayed his face. Twoie sputtered. “What the hell?”   
  
“No sadness!! It’s makeover time!!”   
  
Twoie snorted. “Steven--”   
  
“Nobody’s gonna judge you!! Just relax and let me do your makeup!!”   
  
Twoie sighed, looking toward the door and then smiling. “Okay. Sure. But it better be good.”   
  
“Are you kidding? Of course it’ll be good! Do you not  _ see  _ my makeup right now?”

Twoie laughed. Steven laughed too.   
  
“Okay, now hold still.”   
  
Twoie nodded and shut his eyes. Steven hummed, tilting his head and thinking up what he wanted. Twoie probably wouldn’t want something too extreme, considering his hesitance in the first place.. But he still wanted him to look fun and glamorous.    
  
“So.. tell me..” Steven started, grabbing a medium sized makeup brush and some foundation. “Are you okay with glitter?”   
  
“Sure.”   
  
“Okay..” He swatch tested on Twoie’s wrist. Twoie was just a bit tanner, but it wasn’t too noticeable. “How about.. Symbols?”   
  
“Like the star on your cheek?”   
  
“Yeah!”   
  
“Not that big, thank you. But I like symbols.”   
  
Steven nodded, putting the brush in the foundation and starting to paint Twoie’s face. He winced but soon got adjusted to the sensation.

“Okay.. hm.. What’s your favourite colour?”   
  
“Uhhhhhh red? I dunno actually.”

“I like red! And pink!”

Twoie whined. “Please, no pink..”   
  
“Can it be a reddish pink for blending into the actual red?”   
  
“Uhm. Sure, as long as it’s not the main colour.”   
  
“Okay!”

Steven stuck his tongue out, focusing on the task at hand. He added lighter makeup under his eyes and onto his forehead, blending it together to make him shine. Then, he added the shadows. They were amateur, but worked well enough for a makeover that wouldn’t be seen by anyone. 

“So.. Where’d you get that kit anyways? I don't remember having it.” Twoie asked.

Steven opened up the eyeshadow pallet. 

“Pearl gave it to me when I was younger. She read a magazine to see what kids liked but she didn’t realize that makeup was a ‘girls’ thing. But that doesn't matter because I love it anyways.”

“Ohhhh I remember that now..” Twoie nodded.

“Do you still have it?” Steven asked.   
  
“Probably not. A section of the house got destroyed so I’m sure that was, too.”   
  
Steven stopped, feeling his heart break. “The house is destroyed..?”   
  
“Yeah, but it’s rebuilt again! And better. We have our own room now.”   
  
Steven gasped, heart back up. “That’s great!!! I always hated not having a door..”   
  
“Ugh, I know, right?? I need  _ privacy _ .”

“Totally.”

Steven finished the reddish wing outline on Twoie’s eyelids and began darkening the wing with some burgundy eyeshadow.

“So.. that’s why you never dress up? Other than people judging you?”   
  
“That’s a factor, I guess.. I dunno. I haven’t really thought about.. Expressing myself in a while. I kinda just put on whatever and do my job.”   
  
“You have a job??”   
  
“Uh. Well.. I was a teacher at one point.”   
  
Steven gasped.   
  
“Oh my gosh!! Like at Connie’s school!! What did you teach?”   
  
“Oh.. general.. Studies..?”   
  
“Cool.. So.. what’s your job now?”   
  
“Oh.. keeping up with the galaxy and the diamonds and all that..”   
  
“The diamonds..?”   
  
“Don’t worry about them yet, you’ll understand what I mean soon enough.”   
  
“Ah, alright.”    
  
He grabbed another brush, dipping it into some sparkling “Candy Apple” red and smearing it along the rest of the eyelid, making it shimmer. He smiled proudly as he worked.   
  
“So..” He continued. “You don’t have time to do fun stuff because of that..?”

“Yea- well--  _ no _ .” He huffed, crossing his arms.   
  
“Stay still. And  _ don’t lie _ !! It’s okay if you aren’t doing fun stuff all the time because of your job.. It's not your fault. Just.. promise me when you go back you’ll do fun stuff.”

“Alright. I promise.” He chuckled. “I’ll do my makeup.”   
  
“It doesn’t have to be that.. You can express yourself however you wanna, not just with appearance.. Or makeup.. You can do it with your room or your clothes or.. Your personality..”   
  
Steven dipped into the shimmery eyeshadow again and doubled down on the eyelids. “Y’know.”   
  
Twoie hummed. “I guess so.. Man, when’d you become so smart?”   
  
Steven giggled. “I’m not that smart.”   
  
“Yeah, you are.”

“Okayyy..~” Steven chuckled. 

He finished up his eye makeup with some mascara and eyeliner and then grabbed a “French Pink” pencil. It didn’t look  _ that _ pink so it should be fine. He hummed and studied Twoie’s face. Twoie opened his eyes. “Can I look now?”   
  
“There’s no mirrors so yeah.”   
  
“Okay. What’re you doing?”   
  
“Deciding on a symbol..”   
  
Twoie giggled. “Okay. Take your time, fashionista.”

Steven giggled. He squinted and imagined a big star on Twoie’s cheek. Nah.. too much. A heart? No, it was the size.. A small heart..? On..

“I got it!! I got it! Hold still or I’ll start over.”

“Oh shi- shoot, okay.” He held his breath and shut his eyes. Steven pressed the pencil to his right cheekbone. Twoie snickered. “What--”   
  
“Hold still!!”   
  
Twoie giggled. “Okay, okay.”

Steven carefully drew a small heart there and then backed up. He grinned and put the makeup away, discarding the case to his drawers and getting out a handheld mirror. He put it in Twoie’s hands.   
  
Twoie began to open his eyes and Steven covered them. “Don’t open your eyes yet!!”   
  
“Oh! Okay!”   
  
“Okay..” Steven slowly took his hands away. “Open in three.. Two..” He stood back. “One!!”   
  
Twoie opened his eyes and gasped, staring at himself. Steven had given him a red/pink winged smokey eye with a glitter finish. He tilted his head to the side, smiling when he saw the pink heart.   
  
“Wow..”

Steven wiggled excitedly. “So..?”   
  
“I love it.” Twoie laughed breathlessly. “I’ll have to do this more often..”   
  
“Yay!!” Steven cheered, tackling Twoie in a hug. Twoie laughed and hugged him back.    
  
“Oh, wait!” Steven gasped, getting out his phone. “I have to capture this moment!”   
  
He pulled Twoie closer and winked at the camera. Twoie laughed and beamed for it, giving a peace sign. Steven snapped the picture and pulled back to check it. 

Just then, Pearl, Amethyst, and Garnet entered the house. Pearl looked up and smiled. “Hey, you two!”   
  
Steven got up and waved back. “Hey!!”   
  
Amethyst oohed. “What you all dressed up for??”   
  
“I sang at the Beach-a-Palooza tonight! And then I did Twoie’s makeup! Show ‘em!”   
  
Twoie got up slowly and looked at Amethyst. She gasped. “Whaaaaat!??! That looks amazing!!”   
  
Pearl clasped her hands together. “It sure does!!”   
  
Garnet gave a thumbs up. Amethyst raced up the stairs and cannonballed into the bed.   
  
“ME NEXT!!!!”   
  
“But aren’t your bodies not real?”   
  
“Doesn’t mean I can’t get my ‘ _ face beat’, _ Steven! Now shut up and gimme a makeover!”   
  
“Yes, Ma’am!” He grinned, grabbing his case. Garnet also sat on the bed. Amethyst looked absolutely delighted with her participation. 

Steven looked around and saw Twoie laughing by the bedside, happy.    
  
He smiled, happy too. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Leave a comment if you enjoyed!


	9. Catch and Release

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Twoie talks to Peridot, and Pearl learns something.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> SORRY FOR LATE UPLOAD I THOUGHT IT WAS MONDAY LOL

Steven woke up randomly in the middle of the night. He rubbed his eyes and looked over to his phone. His sleepy-time podcast had stopped playing.. And his teddy bear wasn’t with him..

He opened up his phone and squinted at the painfully bright light before turning it down. He readied his podcast again. Then, he sat up and looked around for his teddy bear by the sides of the bed. 

While looking, his attention was diverted to Twoie, sneaking through the dark, to the room’s doorway. Steven narrowed his eyes. Why was he going in there..?   
  
Twoie opened up Rose’s room and went inside.

Steven watched the door close and sat in his bed for a minute.

“...”   
  
He shouldn’t go.

…

He groaned and rolled his eyes at himself, getting out of bed. He was already awake.. 

He went down and into Rose’s room, looking around for Twoie but not seeing him.    
  
“Hey, Room?” He called. “Can.. can you show me where Twoie went?”   
  
The clouds parted and there was a red tube, similar to those in the heart of the temple. Steven grabbed onto it and slid down, cinching his legs around it when he got into the basement. He skidded to a stop and winced. God, that would burn his thighs later. He looked down and saw Twoie, holding Peridot’s bubble. Steven frowned. Why was he trying to interrogate Peridot alone??

Twoie popped the bubble and backed up. Peridot took shape and formed, falling onto her face and scrambling upright.

“Hello, Peridot--”   
  
“IF YOU’RE GONNA TRY AND INTERROGATE ME AGAIN, IT WON’T WORK! I’LL NEVER TELL YOU ABOUT THE CLUSTER!”

Twoie sighed. “Please, calm down.”   
  
“NO!! I AM NOT GOING TO _‘CALM DOWN’_!! YOU SMASHED ME INTO A LIMBLESS CLOUD, TOOK ME HERE, AND..” She looked up. “Where is.. H.. here..?”

Steven hid behind a tube.   
  
She gulped, gazing at all the bubbles in fear. 

“Oh my stars.. You’re going to harvest me?”   
  
“No!” Twoie came closer. “We’re not going to harvest you. Just please--”   
  
She smacked his face. He flinched, but didn’t seem to be really hurt. “Ouch.”   
  
“... That hurt?”   
  
Twoie shifted his eyes and nodded slowly. “Yep.”

She smacked him again. He huffed in annoyance.   
  
“HAH! FEEL MY UNBRIDLED RAGE!!” She yelled, smacking his chest a bunch as he slowly backed up. “NYEH! HEH! HAHA!”   
  
Twoie grabbed her wrists and lifted her up. She squealed and kicked around like a toddler.   
  
“Calm down. I’m not here to play these games with you. I just need your help defeating the cluster.”

“HOW CAN YOU DEFEAT IT IF YOU DON’T EVEN KNOW WHAT IT IS!? AND I’D NEVER HELP YOU!”   
  
“I know what it is. It’s a giant fusion experiment at the Earth’s core.”   
  
Steven paled. Like with Garnet? Like in the hospital??

“Wh..” Peridot frowned. “How did.. Ugh-- that doesn’t matter-- I’LL STILL NEVER HELP YOU VANQUISH IT!!”   
  
“Peridot! If you don’t help us, you’re gonna get killed like everyone else on the planet!!”   
  
“NO!!”

“WHY NOT!?”   


She flailed around, growling. “YOU SMASHED ME INTO A LIMBLESS CLOUD, YOU TRAPPED ME IN YOUR BUBBLE DUNGEON, AND YOU JUST THREATENED ME!!”

Twoie groaned. “I didn’t threaten you. I told you a fact. This planet’s going to die without your help, Peridot.. You're important.” 

He set her down slowly, taking on a softer tone.l   
  
Peridot huffed. “FLATTERY WILL GET YOU NOWHERE!! BUT I APPRECIATE THE COMMENT!”   
  
Twoie smirked. “You’re welcome.”

“Although.. I'm wondering about any.. Ulterior motives.. Can't you get someone else to do it?   
  
Twoie bit his lip and shrugged lopsidedly. “Uhh.. No. Nobody has the same  _ expertise  _ as  _ you _ .”

Steven narrowed his eyes. Wow.. bribing her with compliments..  _ Real  _ great plan, Twoie..

Peridot looked up. “So.. You need my help?”

“Yes.”   
  
“You  _ really  _ need my help?”   
  
“Yes..” Twoie nodded.   
  
Peridot leaned in closer and opened her mouth to speak, then slapped Twoie and ran off.   
  
“HEY!!” Twoie yelled, jumping up after her and chasing her out of the room. Steven leapt off the tube and gave chase, hoping the gems weren’t awake. They ran out into the main room and Peridot stopped, throwing her hands in the air and screaming “FREEDOM IS MINE!!”   
  
Pearl, Amethyst, and Garnet all stared at her. She slowly turned around and froze. Steven rushed in front of her, blocking her from the gems and Twoie.    
  
“Wait!!”   
  
“Look!” Peridot quivered, pointing randomly. “Another planet to betray!”

Amethyst swallowed her pizza box whole and Garnet summoned her gauntlets. Pearl growled.   
  
“Retreat!” Peridot cried, scrambling towards the door. 

“Oh no you don’t!” Pearl, Garnet, and Twoie blocked the door.   
  
“Eep!”    
  
She ran upstairs, where Amethyst was waiting on the bed with her whip.   
  
“Hey~”   
  
“Aahh!!” Peridot fell off the upstairs ledge and ran into the bathroom, locking the door. 

_ “YOU MAY HAVE WON THE WAR, BUT THE BATTLE ISN’T OVER, CRYSTAL CLODS!!” _ She yelled through the door, cackling afterwards.   
  
Pearl unsummoned her weapon. “Should we tell her that’s the bathroom?”

“Eh.” Amethyst shrugged.

Amethyst reached over and jiggled the door handle.   
  
“It’s locked.”

Garnet walked up to the door. “ _ PERIDOT _ , Open the door!”

The toilet flushed. 

Amethyst leaned against the door. 

“Uhh, If you’re trying to flush yourself down the toilet-- It won’t work. Trust me, I’ve tried.”

“How did she get out? We bubbled her!” Pearl exclaimed.

“Maybe we needed a bigger bubble?” Amethyst shrugged.

“My bubbles are  _ fine _ .” Garnet said. 

“I did it.” Twoie said.

Pearl gasped. “Twoie!! Why would you do such a thing??”

“We need her to defeat the Cluster. She’s the only one who can.. Attack it correctly.”   
  
“What??” Amethyst groaned. “Twoie, we can handle it. Whatever it is.”   
  
“You can’t.”   
  
“THAT’S RIGHT!” Peridot called out. “I’M THE ONLY ONE WITH THE RIGHT KIND OF EXPERTISE!! ‘TWOIE’ SAID SO!”   
  
Pearl glared at him and Twoie chuckled nervously. “T-trust me, guys.. If you knew what the cluster was..”   
  
“Tell us, then.” Garnet crossed her arms. “Then we can decide if we need her help.”   
  
Twoie frowned, rubbing the back of his next. “... It’s really scary..”   
  
“Jeez, Twoie, we’re not  _ babies _ . We can handle it!” Amethyst scoffed. 

Twoie breathed in deeply and nodded. 

“Okay, um.. Basically: Once Homeworld deemed Earth an unproductive colony, they decided to use it for something else: experiments. The f-forced fusions we saw underground we-ere some of the experiments..”   
  
Steven winced and Garnet looked off to the side.   
  
“But they were only the prototype.” Twoie continued, wringing his hands together. “The final product is a giant forced fusion comprised of millions of gem shards at the Earth’s core. When it forms, it will destroy the Earth entirely and be used as a geo-weapon for the Diamonds.”   
  
Pearl placed her hand over her mouth and stomach, shaking slightly. Amethyst stared off, processing. Garnet pressed her lips into a fine line and clenched her fists and Steven whimpered, thumbing the bottom of his banana pajamas.

“W-who are the Diamonds? Why would they do that?” He asked. They all looked at him with varying degrees of surprise and guilt. Twoie sighed and leaned down.   
  
“They’re the.. The rulers of Homeworld. They take over planets and then destroy them for gemkind. They’re bad, that’s all you need to know.”   
  
“Wait..” Pearl frowned. “How do  _ you  _ know about the Diamonds, Twoie?”

“I um..” Twoie paled. “Uh.. you.. You told me about them.”   
  
Pearl’s eyes widened. “A-all of.. Them?”   
  
Twoie stared back at her, seemingly realizing what she meant.   
  
“.... Yes ...” He nodded slowly. “Yes..  _ All  _ of them.”

They kept eye contact, in a silent conversation. Amethyst looked between them uncomfortably.   
  
“So.. uh.. About the Cluster..?”   
  
“Oh! Oh, right.” Twoie nodded. “Yes. W-we need Peridot to handle it. So.. we can’t poof her or.. Whatever. We need her to help us.”

“I’m tired of playing these games.” Garnet sighed, going up to the door. “If we can’t fight her, then fine. We’ll talk.” She yelled through the door. “PERIDOT!”   
  
“Whoa!!” Peridot said, then a thud was heard from behind the door.   
  
“Alright, no more fighting. Let’s just have a civil conversatio--”   
  
“AS IF I’D NEGOTIATE WITH YOU, FILTHY WAR MACHINE!”   
  
Garnet growled and all the gems summoned their weapons.   
  
“Alright, let’s kick her butt.”   
  
“Wait!!” Steven pleaded.   
  
“YEAH!!” Peridot sneered. “DESTROY ME AGAIN! AND HAVE FUN TRYING TO TALK TO ME WHEN I’M IN A  _ BUBBLE _ !!”

Pearl sighed. “I really hate to say it, but unfortunately, if we need her, she’s more valuable to us like  _ this _ .”

“This is going to be tricky..” Garnet mused.   
  
There was a squeaking and then the sound of a shower turning on.    
  
“Hot, hot, hot, hot, hot!!”   
  
“You have to turn the knob the other way for cold!!” Steven called. 

They went to the kitchen to discuss, Steven pouring himself some water in a mug.    
  
Pearl sighed. “Well, sadly, I believe we’ll just have to keep her out..”

Steven set down his mug. “Wait, we’re just gonna let her live in my bathroom?”   
  
“Well, yes! What other option do we have? Keep her outside on a leash?” 

She laughed, then slowly went into thought.   
  
“Hmm..”

“But I need to use the bathroom!” Steven complained. 

“Yeah!” Twoie said. 

“Right now?” Pearl asked. 

“Yeah.. Kinda.”   
  
“Just go in the ocean, bro!” Amethyst chuckled. “Pssh.. like a fish..”

Steven scowled and got up, going outside. “What is it with you guys and making me pee outside!?”   
  
Twoie followed, groaning to himself about having to do this again.

Steven eventually got back inside after a disgusting night out and settled under the covers. No sooner than ten minutes went by before he saw Twoie and Pearl walking off into her room together, her hand glued over her mouth. He narrowed his eyes, unsure if he should snoop..

Nah.

He fell asleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please leave a comment if you enjoyed!!


	10. Steven's Birthday

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Steven and Twoie have a birthday party, but Twoie realizes something that makes it come to halt.

“I can’t believe it’s finally my birthday..” Steven awed as he held the end of his banner that Garnet was decorating. “You’re.. Sure it’s okay that we’re taking a break from the drill?”   
  
“Peridot will keep us on schedule.” Pearl said. 

Amethyst looked over to Peridot, who was coming out of the barn with a piece of machinery. 

“Yo, Peri! You sure you don’t wanna get in on this?”   
  
She blew up a triangle balloon with Peridot’s face on it, and it popped. She smiled nervously up at Peridot. Peridot put her goggles back on and walked away.   
  
“We should celebrate our progress.” Garnet said. “We should celebrate  _ your  _ progress.” She amended, looking at Steven. She pat his head. “You’ve grown a lot this year.”

“And he’ll keep growing!” Pearl beamed, gesturing to Twoie, who was blowing up balloons. Twoie looked up and blushed, then returned to his work. Garnet smiled and pat his back. 

“Mhmm.. we got two birthday boys today.. How old are you turning, Twoie?”

“Eighteen.”   
  
“Woooww!!” Steven and Amethyst gasped. Pearl clapped her hands together. “Oh!! He’s an adult now!! That’s so exciting! Now you can drive and.. Uh…” She thought. “What else can adults do..?”   
  
“Drink!” Amethyst cheered. Twoie laughed. “I can’t do that! I’m not twenty one yet!”   
  
“Oh, darn..” Amethyst sighed. “Guess we’ll have to wait to take you to Vegas.”   
  
Twoie laughed and Pearl huffed, scowling at Amethyst. “There is no way we are taking him to Vegas.”   
  
“Why not? You went.”   
  
Pearl blushed and smacked Amethyst’s head lightly. Twoie snickered. Steven tilted his head.   
  
“What’s Vegas?”   
  
“You’ll know when you’re older.” Garnet patted his head.   
  
Greg’s van honked as he drove up to the barn, parking by it. Steven stared as Connie got out, holding onto her wide brimmed hat that matched her cute dress. She looked around and caught Steven in her gaze.   
  
“Steven!!”   
  
“Connie!!” 

They ran to each other and hugged.    
  
“Happy birthday!!” She said.

“Thanks! Welcome to the party. May I offer you.. A refreshment?” He held out two juice boxes. She took on and smirked. “Oh, Steven, how gentlemanly~”   
  
They smiled and touched their juice boxes, saying “clink!” together as they did.

“Sooo, this is the barn!” He said. “I’m surprised your parents are letting you stay for the weekend.”

Connie chuckled. “It wasn’t easy. They only let me come after equipping me with every piece of safety gear on the planet..”

“WHAT SHOULD I DO WITH THIS DEFIBRILLATOR?!” Greg called from the van.   
  
“Um! We can just leave it in the car for now!!” Connie blushed.

Steven giggled. 

“Well, I’m glad you could make it.”   
  
“Me, too.”

“Alright, move it, Connie. I was his best friend first.” Greg barged in, picking up Steven in a bear hug. “Happy Birthday!!”    
  
He set him down and took a step back, looking him over. “Let me get a look at ‘ya.”   
  
“Dad!!” Steven squeaked, flushing.

“Sorry, I just can’t believe my little boys growing up so quickly..” He wiped his eye. “It seems like just yesterday you were a baby and now you’re fourteen years old!”

Connie spat out her drink.    
  
“ **STEVEN** , YOU’RE  _ FOURTEEN _ !?”

“Yeah..?” Steven answered, furrowing his brows.

“But.. I’m only 12 ¾! You’re older than me? I-I don’t believe it!”

“Well, sure!” Greg chimed in, bringing out a baby blue book. “Check it out!” He said, opening it to Steven’s baby pictures.   
  
“We have infant.”

A tiny baby Steven was in his Birthday Suit, crown too big.

“Baby.”

Tiny Steven, a bit older, reaching towards the cake. He had a few teeth!

“Toddler.”   
  
Steven, crawling on a table with all his baby teeth.

“What’s it called-- adolescent.”

A picture of Steven in his birthday suit, looking exactly as he did now.   
  
“Adolescent.”    
  
Steven looked the same, the number on the cake did not.   
  
“Adolescent. Adolescent.. Whoa, looks like you stagnated there a little bit, buddy.”

Connie frowned. “Mr--”   
  
“But don’t worry!” Greg said, patting him on the back. “You’ll grow soon! Look at him!”    
  
He gestured to Twoie. Steven and Connie looked up. Connie blinked, realizing something. Steven smiled, reassured.    
  
“Speaking of which.. HEY, STEVEN!!”   
  
Twoie looked up.   
  
“How old are ‘ya now, son??” He walked over. Twoie smiled and told him. Greg gasped and grabbed him in the biggest bear hug he’d ever given, tears coming to his eyes.   
  
“MY BABY BOY’S GROWIN’ UPPPPP!!!!!”

Twoie laughed, unable to hold himself back, and hugged Greg back. He wouldn’t stop giggling for a while.   
  
Connie smiled softly and leaned on Steven. “Good thing he’s here, huh?”   
  
“Yeah..” Steven nodded. “I was.. I was kinda scared that I wouldn’t grow.”   
  
“Good thing you will. I.. I can’t wait to, um, grow up with you..”   
  
Steven blushed, looking over at her. Grow up.. With her..?

“...”   
  
“Uh. S-sorry..” Connie pulled back. Steven held her hand before he could think.    
  
“No, me too.”

Connie blushed and glanced down at their hands. “Uh.. y-yeah..”

There was a moment of silence between them. Steven gulped, staring into her eyes. Her perfect, warm, eyes.. Red really looked nice on her- though, what colour didn't? She was so perfect.. So wonderful.. So..   
  
“YO, STEVEN!”   
  
Steven squeaked and fell down. Connie pulled back and hid her face with her hat.   
  
“W-what??” Steven called back.   
  
“HOW DOES THIS LOOK?” Amethyst yelled, holding up a banner. He gave a thumbs up. “It’s good!!”   
  
“GREAT!”   
  
She secured it and shapeshifted her long legs back down to their normal size.

“There’s my B-Day guy!” Greg said, walking over with Steven’s Birthday Suit. 

“Uh, what’s up, dad?”

“We’re almost ready to start! Go into the barn and put these on!”   
  
Steven took the garments and frowned. “What about Twoie?”   
  
“Oh! Right!” He turned to Twoie. “TWOIE!!”   
  
Twoie startled out of his conversation with Connie. “Uh.. yes?”   
  
“COME HERE!! WE’RE GONNA START!”   
  
Twoie walked over and Greg hummed. “So.. which do you guys want? The cape or the crown..? You each get either one or you can take turns.”   
  
Twoie blushed. “What!! I’m way too old for that!”   
  
Greg frowned, putting his hand on his heart. “Oh, Steven, you’re breaking your old man’s heart..”   
  
Twoie huffed and crossed his arms, blushing. “Fine.. I’ll take the stupid cape..”   
  
“It’s not stupid.” Steven frowned. Twoie rolled his eyes. “W-whatever.. It’s just because capes are cool..”   
  
“There you go! Now get in!” Greg pushed them both in the barn. Steven put the crown on his head and Twoie wore the cape, actually very happy with how it looked. He smiled and admired himself, turning around and swishing it. “Hehe..”

Steven smirked, affixing his crown. “‘Stupid’, huh?”   
  
Twoie flushed and smushed the crown down over his eyes. “Shut up, Stupidhead.”

Steven giggled and pulled up his crown, blowing a raspberry at him. Twoie laughed.   
  
“YO!!!!! WHAT’S TAKIN’ Y’ALL SO LONG!?”

Steven and Twoie left the barn, greeted by everyone holding a big cake with a fourteen candle on it. Amethyst had shapeshifted her fingers into an eighteen behind it. Twoie smiled.   
  
“SURPRISE!!”   
  
Steven grinned and ran forward. “COOKIE CAT CAKE!!”

Twoie gasped loudly. “WAIT, THAT’S COOKIE CAT FLAVOUR!?!?!”   
  
“Uh, yes?” Pearl said. Twoie ran up. “I HAVEN’T HAD COOKIE CAT IN YEARS, MAN!!!!! LET ME HAVE SOME!!!!”   
  
There was a chorus of laughter. Amethyst changed her eighteen to five.

“Calm down, you two!!” Pearl giggled. “We’re gonna cut it in a second.. Garnet, if you please?”   
  
“Mm.”   
  
Garnet set down the cake on the picnic table and cut it into slices, putting them on plates. She gave one to Twoie first, who dug in with a childlike enthusiasm Steven hadn’t seen before. He liked it. He got one next and also ate it excitedly. They all moved over to the picnic basket. Amethyst ate a good portion of the cake, Garnet tried some, but stated she wouldn’t do the “full experience”. Pearl winced. 

After they had finished cake and Twoie moved onto his second slice, Connie handed Steven a present. Steven gasped. “Wow, thanks!”

He went to untie it. Connie held up a hand.

“Oh, you don’t have to untie that. It’s just a box made to  _ look like _ I spent a lot of time wrapping it.” She giggled.   
  
Steven threw off the lid and took out a pink button up shirt. “Ooh, a new shirt! What a pretty colour!”

“Try it on!”

He put it on and buttoned it up. “It’s perfect!”   
  
Connie smiled. She looked over to Twoie and frowned.   
  
“Sorry I didn’t get anything for you, Twoie..”   
  
“Huh?” Twoie looked over. “Oh, It’s okay!”   
  
“Are you sure..?”   
  
“Yeah.” Twoie said more flatly, nodding and licking his lips nervously. “It’s good.”   
  
Greg hugged him. “I’m sorry, too, Twoie.”   
  
“It’s alright, really--”   
  
“I’ll get you something later!” Connie said. Everyone agreed and Twoie bit his lip.   
  
Steven frowned. Something was wrong..

Steven was given the rest of his gifts and then they walked over to the badminton court, playing a quick game. Twoie seemed distracted slightly, the shuttlecock hitting his face a few times and snapping him out of it. 

Later in the evening, they played some of his dad’s records and danced along. Steven and Connie danced together while Garnet and Greg were the DJS. Pearl and Amethyst had their own fun time.

“This one goes out to the youngest birthday boy.. And his best friend.” Garnet announced. Slow, romantic, music started playing. Steven and Connie stared at each other, chuckling nervously and blushing. 

Steven gently placed his hands around Connie’s waist. She rested hers on his shoulders and looked into his eyes. 

“I still can’t believe all this time you were older than me.. You should sneak me into a PG-13 movie sometime.”   
  
Steven gasped. “Connie!”   
  
Connie snickered. “I’m just kidding. I’d never ask you to break the law.”   
  
She looked away for a moment, then moved her hand down to rest against his heart. Steven gasped, feeling it beat faster.    
  
“It’ll be funny having to look up at you when you’re older.”   


Steven chuckled, cheeks burning. “M-maybe you’re taller than me in the future..”   
  
“Maybe..” She leaned in closer. “Would you want me to be taller? Wanna look up at me?”   
  
Steven imagined a tall Connie, one he could be held by and would look up to. He felt his face turn crimson. “U-uh.. y-yes..”   
  
Connie smiled and gazed into his eyes, her face pink, too.   
  
“Me too.”

Steven felt himself relax as his heartbeat quickened. Suddenly, he felt a pull towards her. He glanced down at her lips and felt his own tingle. She was so pretty.. So perfect..

She glanced down at his, too.

“Connie.. I..”   
  
“LET’S CRANK IT UP!!” 

Loud party music started to play. Connie and Steven both jumped, looking over to the van. Garnet was facepalming as Amethyst danced, obviously the one who ruined the moment. Greg sighed.   
  
Steven and Connie chuckled awkwardly, taking a step back from each other.   
  
“I-I’m gonna go.. C-check up on Twoie..”   
  
“Y-yeah. I- yep.”   
  
Steven walked away, shoulders stiff. Wow. Wow wow wow. 

He hadn’t actually meant to look for Twoie, but found himself walking right towards him. He was sitting down on a hay bale, staring into nothingness with his head in his hands. Steven sat down by him, startling him out of his thoughts.

“Hey.”   
  
“Uh.. hey.” Twoie mumbled.

Steven scooted closer and hugged him. “What’s wrong?”   
  
Twoie was startled, but soon melted into it, hugging him back. “Nothin’.. I don’t wanna be a bummer.”   
  
“You should talk about your feelings..”   
  
“No.. Not to you.. You’re a kid.”   
  
“I’m a teen, technically.”   
  
“And I’m an adult, technically..”   
  
Steven huffed. “C’mon.. I’ve noticed you’ve been down the whole time.”

“You have? Aw, man.. I don't wanna bum you out..”   
  
“Well, if you don’t tell me, I’ll be bummed the whole time because I won’t know.”   
  
Twoie pulled back from the hug, scratching the back of his neck.   
  
“I don’t wanna ruin your birthday or burden you..”   
  
“C’mon.. You won’t.. And if you don’t tell me, I’ll just be curious the whole time..”   


Twoie sighed deeply. “I know..”   
  
He leaned forward and wrung his hands together.   
  
“I realized something this morning..”   
  
Steven leaned in, listening.   
  
“I am going to die.”   
  
Steven paled. “Um.. we-well.. Yeah. All humans die.. Eventually.. But that’s a long time from now--”   
  
“It’s not.”   
  
“What??”   
  
“When I.. travel back to my time; I will be a different person because I changed the past. So.. so this version of me.. Will die. I will die and be re.. Reinvented? As whatever you grow up to be. But I’ll still die.”   
  
He started shaking.   
  
“I-I know there’s nothing I can do now.. It’s too late.. And honestly, I kind of wanted this.. But.. I’m just so s-scared..”   
  
“You.. you  _ wanted  _ to die?”

Steven gulped, feeling everyone’s eyes on them when he said that. The music was quieter.

“No! No.. I just..” He sighed. “I want you to grow up into someone who’s better than me. Happier. I don’t want you to be all screwed up. But, in order for that to happen.. I must die.”

Steven shook his head, feeling tears burn in his eyes.   
  
“N-no.. no.. you- we can fix--”   
  
“We can't. Steven. The minute I came here I was doomed to die. The minute I stepped into your life, I sealed my fate. And now, all I can do is bide my time and hope to god it’s not painful.   
  
Steven hiccuped, sniffling and turning away. No.. no.. He really loved Twoie, he didn’t want him to go.. They were such great friends.. And.. 

“T-then stay f-forever..?”   
  
“Can’t. I’d mess up the timeline and probably break it.”   
  
Steven sobbed, hiding it in his sleeve. “S-sorry..”   
  
Twoie’s eyes widened and he scooted closer. 

“No, no.. hey-- ah, shit..” He mumbled. “I knew I should’ve kept quiet..”   
  
Greg walked over to them, leaning down and looking at Steven. Connie was beside him and the gems were approaching. “What’s all this crying about, Schtu-ball?”

“Twoie’s gonna die!!”   
  
“What??” Greg paled, looking at Twoie. Twoie sighed. “N-no.. it’s just.. I.. since I’m here, I’ve changed myself.. So.. Steven won’t grow up to be me exactly. Which will result in me being erased from existence the minute I go back in time. I.. I’m sorry. I should’ve kept quiet.. I’m so stupid..”   
  
“Hey, don’t beat yourself up.” Greg said, patting his shoulder. “It’s okay..”   
  
“It’s not! I can’t believe I just..” His cheeks flared pink for a second before he started crying. “I’m such a stupid idiot.. God..”   
  
“Hey, hey!!” Greg whined. “No, you’re not..”   
  
“Twoie, don’t beat yourself up..” Garnet hugged him. Twoie looked up at them and then pushed them off.    
  
“Don’t comfort me!! Steven’s the one who needs hugs!! He’s- He’s just a kid..!”   
  
He sniffled.    
  
“A kid I just made sad on his  _ birthday _ .. God, I’m awful..”

Greg frowned and gave him a quick hug before turning to Steven. “Hey, buddy, I’m sure we can work something out..”  
  
Steven shook his head. “W-we can’t.. He- he’s doomed.. And- and it’s all my fault!”  
  
“ _WHAT!?"_ Twoie yelled. “No!! NO! This is _MY_ fault, Steven!”

“But you’re me!”   
  
“Oh, don’t you start. This is _my_ fault and my fault alone. I shouldn’t have told you.”   
  
“B-but I asked!”   
  
“Um.. if I may..” Connie interjected. “T-Twoie.. Are you 100% certain you will be erased?”   
  
“Yeah? I changed a lot.”   
  
“How much?”   
  
“A lot.”   
  
“No, like.. What did you change?”   
  
“Oh.. um.. Well, I’m here.. A-and.. We caught Peridot a week early.. Um.. I trained Steven to learn his powers early.. I.. t-the h-h-hospital..” He shuddered. “Other stuff.”   
  
“Anything super life changing though? Like.. all those things you’re saying are just things that happened earlier than they were supposed to.”   
  
“Well, originally, this party was supposed to be really bad because.. I got self conscious about not growing up so I shapeshifted the whole time and turned into a baby. That just didn’t happen! Though..” He whimpered. “I guess I ruined it in another way, huh..?”   
  
“But, it’s not like you.. You got your arm cut off or something!”   
  
“.... What are you getting at?”   
  
“What I’m saying is.. That you’ll still be Steven at the core.. Just with different memories!”   
  
“But memories shape who I am.”   
  
“But you’ve been shaping yourself on your own for..” She turned to Steven. “Um.. Almost fourteen years!! You have a core personality! You won’t be completely different.. So.. it’s not like really dying..? I dunno..”

Twoie’s eyes widened. Steven's crying slowed   
  
“Connie..” Steven whispered in awe. 

Twoie smiled weakly. “Y-you’re right.. I’ll still be me at the core!! Just.. with a few memories missing and.. And a few new memories!!”   
  
He turned to Steven and placed a hand tentatively on his leg. “See, Steven..? E-everything will be fine!! I.. I’ll still be here.. Kinda!”   
  
Steven thought about it for a minute. Twoie was still gonna be around.. Just in four-ish years.. And a tiny bit different.. Maybe he could get Twoie to write down everything he was gonna forget so none of it was really gone..!

“Y-yeah.. Yeah!” Steven grinned, wiping his tears away as they kept coming. “You’re right!! You’ll still be Steven! Just a little different! So you won’t  _ really  _ die!!”   
  
“Yeah!!”   
  
He tackled him in a hug and Twoie beamed, crying again. Everyone gathered around and hugged him, giving them their love. Steven sighed, burying his face in Twoie’s shirt and relaxing for a long while before everyone pulled away.   
  
“Alright.. Enough existential crises.” Amethyst said. “It’s party time!!”

“Whoo!!” Steven cheered, grabbing Twoie and dragging him out to the dance floor as Garnet put on an upbeat party track. He spun him around, still shaking off his sadness. Twoie hesitated and stopped, letting go of his hands. Steven fell to the grass and frowned.   
  
“What’s wrong..?”   
  
“Um.. I- I’m not that good at dancing..”   
  
“What!! You don’t have to be good! Just have fun! C’mon!” He grabbed his hands. “I’ll show you!”   
  
“But I’m bad!”   
  
“Who cares!! We all are! Just dance and feel the music in your body!”   
  
He spun them around and Twoie followed along, giggling a little. Steven let go, holding on with just one hand and swinging Twoie into a spin. Twoie stopped himself after a few turns and laughed, wiping his tears away still. His laugh was pained, but so, so, hopeful and happy. Steven teared up and ran towards him, throwing his arms out for a hug. He dove right into him and there was a bright light.

Mega Steven stood on the grass where Steven and Twoie were. He was in Steven’s red shirt, Twoie’s pink jacket, and blue sweatpants with bare feet. His four eyes opened and he ran his hands through his messy hair slowly.   
  
“.... Whoa.”

Everyone stood still, the music was quieted, but still playing. 

Mega Steven looked around at everyone, shocked. He grinned and jumped up, floating for a few seconds.   
  
“Hi!!!!! Isn’t this crazy!?”   
  
Garnet beamed. Pearl gaped. Amethyst ran over and hugged them. “DUDE!!”   
  
Mega Steven picked her up. “DUDE!”   
  
_ “DUDE!!!!” _

**_“DUDE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”_ **

They erupted into laughter and Amethyst booped their nose. They laughed and Amethyst was set down.   
  
“Who even ARE you, man?!”   
  
“Don’t ask me that! I’ve had enough identity crises!”

Amethyst snorted, not understanding but still finding it funny.   
  
“I think his name should be.. Steven Squared.” Connie said. 

Pearl shook her head. “No.. I believe.. That two of the same gem is just that gem.. So.. Steven?”   
  
“How about MEGA Steven!?” Mega Steven said. “TWO STEVENS!! MEGA!! BIG!! WE’RE SO  _ TALL _ !!”   
  
Garnet chuckled.

Greg walked over to them. Mega Steven turned around and smiled softly.   
  
“Hey, dad.”   
  
Greg hugged them and smiled. “I love you both.”   
  
Mega Steven teared up and hugged him back. “I love you, too..”   
  
They let go and Mega Steven looked around, the smile dropping off his face.   
  
“Um.. everyone please stop st-staring.. It’s making me nervous..”   
  
“Oh!” Pearl put her hand over her mouth. “Okay! Um.. Let’s just keep dancing!”   
  
She turned on the music and everyone danced again. Connie came over to Mega Steven and held out her hand. Mega Steven snorted and picked her up, swinging her around and having a blast. Connie laughed. 

They partied until the sun went down and Greg had to back up all the sound equipment with Garnet. Connie set up her tent and Mega Steven set up his. He crawled in, hugged his teddy bear, and closed his eyes.

He’d never slept so well. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Leave a comment if you enjoyed!!


	11. Afterparty

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mega Steven enjoys the rest of the birthday weekend, but something is off...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> tw// mentions of suicidal thoughts
> 
> Btw I hope it comes across that I do not think suicidal thoughts are a joking manner nor should they be treated as such. I'm also not just doing this for the “edge”. If this is offensive or comes off poorly, I am sorry.

Mega Steven woke up bright and early, feeling energized after his sleep. He shot up and yawned loudly. He looked down at himself and beamed. Wow! He was still here! He expected them to be apart in the morning… Nice!

He got out of his tent and stretched, looking around at the barn. Amethyst and Greg were already eating breakfast and Pearl and Garnet were at the table, talking with them. Greg looked up and waved.    
  
“Heya, Uh, Mega Schtu-ball!”

Mega Steven giggled at the name.

Pearl smiled. “Do you mind waking Connie?”   
  
Mega Steven shook his head. “Not at all!”   
  
He walked over to the tent and crouched down to Connie’s level. He looked at her and blushed. She was so cute when she slept..   
  
He winced.   
  
No, not like that, Steven. Not cute like that.   
  
But she is!!

Not to me. She’s a baby.   
  
She’s 12!   
  
Yeah. Baby.   
  
They shook their minds together and sighed, waking her by shaking her shoulders. Connie squinted up at him and groaned. “Wha.. Oh!” She shot up and breathed out shakily. “Oh, wow.. Hey, Mega Steven! You’re still here?”   
  
“Yep! Breakfast time.”    
  
He left the tent and sat down at the table, then paused.   
  
“...”   
  
“What’s wrong?” Pearl asked. “Don’t like eggs?”   
  
“... Can fusions e- e.. At?”   
  
They groaned.   
  
Steven, we need to unfuse.   
  
What?? Why!   


I need to take my pills..

Oh. But..   
  
I know.. We’ll refuse after breakfast.   
  
“Mega Steven..?” Connie asked. She pulled back when they split apart. 

Garnet frowned. “What happened?”   
  
“Unsure about.. Eating together.” Twoie chuckled. “So..”   
  
“Ah.” Garnet nodded. “I understand.”   
  
Twoie nodded anxiously. 

They all sat down for breakfast. A few minutes in, Twoie glanced around and secretly popped his pills in his mouth, swallowing with water then eating breakfast.

“So.. Twoie. Tell us more about the future!” Connie said after a while. “Is there any cool new technology?”   
  
Twoie hummed. “Mm.. not really? I’m only two years ahead- well.. F.. four..? Oh, geez..” He huffed. “You’re fourteen.. I’m eighteen.. So.. okay, yeah, four years. Heh.”   
  
“Any new gems you’ve met?” Greg asked. Twoie bit his lip. “Mm.. Not sure I can tell you many of them.. But.. we’ve met.. Uh..”   
  
“... Oh, man, I can’t say anything.” He huffed.

“Aw, c’mon! Stop being so secretive! We wanna know what the future’s like!!” Amethyst whined. “C’mon.. Just one detail! Just one!”   
  
“....” He clicked his tongue. “I’m.. friends with.. A LOT of new gems.. And.. Um.. Jasper’s cool now.”   
  
Pearl’s eyebrows raised. Garnet hummed. Amethyst scowled.

“Jasper’s a jerk.” Amethyst huffed.   
  
“She  _ was  _ a jerk. She’s harmless now.”

“Wow. I can’t believe you were able to pacify her!” Pearl chuckled nervously. “That’s.. Unbelievable!”   
  
“I know, right?” Twoie laughed. “Aw, man.. So many gems.. It sucks they gotta try and kill me first before we can be friends.”   
  
Amethyst, Steven, and Twoie laughed. Pearl chuckled uncomfortably. Greg and Connie frowned.   
  
“Try and kill you??” Greg asked.   
  
“Uh- yeah. Every gem is out to get me.” Twoie said, chomping off some of his bacon. “They think I’m mom all the time. Ugh. Do I  _ look like _ an eight foot tall pink haired lady to you??”   
  
Amethyst snorted. “Right, yeah. You look nothing like her.”   
  
“I KNOW!!” Twoie exclaimed. “And, like, I don’t even talk like her? Or sound like her? Or anything?? For all they know, I could be a random rose quartz!! How do they know I’m THE rose quartz!?"   
  
Amethyst hummed. “Huh. Yeah.. that’s a good point.. Maybe it’s because you got a belly gem?”   
  
“I’m sure other roses have belly gems.”   
  
Pearl shrugged. “It could be that you have her lion, her sword, and live with us.”   
  
“Oh..” Twoie nodded. “Yeah, that’s true.”    


Greg hummed. “But.. you’ve never gotten seriously hurt, right?”   
  
“Um.” Twoie gulped. “N-nah.. Never seriously hurt. Just like.. One bloody nose and uh.. Maybe a kick to the face. That’s all.”   
  
Greg nodded, still looking troubled.

After breakfast, Steven and Twoie refused. Then, because everyone was bored and the birthday was over, they went and played badminton. It was Mega Steven, Amethyst, and Connie vs Garnet, Pearl, and Greg. 

Garnet stretched her arm up and smacked the shuttlecock down to the other side. Connie got it with her tennis moves and then Greg smacked it over the net, arching it low so it flew far. Mega Steven gasped and moved backwards, hitting it hard across the court. It went through the net and landed far away. 

“The net broke!!” Pearl gasped. “Ugh. Mega Steven, be more careful.”   
  
Amethyst snorted. “Dang, from that? Fragile net.”   
  
Mega Steven laughed diffidently. “‘Bout as fragile as me."

Amethyst snorted. Mega Steven walked off to get the shuttlecock and Amethyst’s laugh died down as she realized what he said. 

“Wait..”   
  
“LOOK OUT!!” Mega Steven called, smacking it back to the court. Pearl squawked and hit it over the damaged net. The game resumed and Mega Steven’s comment was forgotten. 

Later, Greg brought out the pinata, saying that he forgot it to do so last night. Mega Steven beamed.   
  
“Aw hell yeah!!”   
  
“Mega Steven!” Pearl gasped.   
  
“Whaaaatt?” Mega Steven groaned. “It’s not even a real swear..”   
  
“Mega Steven.” Greg warned. Mega Steven huffed and picked up the bat. “Okay, okay.. Sorry.”

Garnet tied a blindfold over him and spun him around inhumanly quick. Mega Steven held his head and laughed. “Whooaaaa okay.. That was.. Whoa.”    
  
He stumbled around and used the bat as a cane, feeling around.   
  
“DON’T FEEL, JUST SWING!” Amethyst shouted. Mega Steven snorted. “Okay, okay.” He backed up and bit his lip.   
  
“PRETEND IT’S HOMEWORLD!!” Amethyst shouted. Mega Steven smirked.   


“Got’cha!”

He slammed down his bat and broke it violently into a bunch of pieces, as he swung, a flash of a gem, tall and gray and scared, appeared in front of him. His bat was a sword and he stabbed her. In the same instant, it was also the fusion experiments, and a ruby, in space. 

He froze after the swing. His vision cleared and he lifted up his blindfold, looking downwards at the broken pinata. What was that..? 

_ Twoie? Are you okay? _ _   
_ _   
_ _ Yeah, yeah.. I.. _

Mega Steven’s eyes spotted something and he beamed, internal dialogue forgotten for now.   
  
“COOKIE CAT CANDY!!”   
  
He leaned down and scooped it up with Connie, them fake-fighting over it.   
  
Amethyst dove headfirst into the candy. Pearl and Garnet shared a concerned glance with Greg.

Mega Steven stood up, shoving candy into his pockets. “No, Amethyst!! You can’t take ‘em!!”   
  
“GIMME CANDY!!” She dove for him. He laughed and shoved her off. Pearl smiled weakly.   
  
“Alright, that’s enough roughhousing, you two.”   
  
“Aw, we were just gett-- huh?” Amethyst felt around in his pocket. “What are--”   
  
Mega Steven snatched back the pill bottle and shoved it in his pocket, face red. “... Nothin’.”   
  
Amethyst frowned. “Um.. Were those--”   
  
“No. Let’s um--” He stood up and brushed himself off. “Let’s just.. Just play something else. Uh.. Pearl! You wanna play a board game or something? I’m kinda tired.”   
  
“Oh! Sure!” Pearl nodded. “We have chess, checkers..”   
  
“Chess!” Mega Steven said. “You’d kick my a-- butt at chess.”   
  
Amethyst snickered. Pearl gave him a look at his almost slip up and Mega Steven shrank. 

“S-sorry.”   
  
Pearl chuckled and pat his head, going to Greg’s van and getting out the chess board. She laid it down on the nearby table and Mega Steven sat across from her. Everyone gathered around because they had nothing better to do.

Pearl dominated chess. She was an excellent strategist and moved all her pieces precisely. Mega Steven began to feel frustrated, making more reckless moves.   
  
“God, how am I  _ this  _ bad at chess??” Mega Steven groaned. “Just kill me already.”   
  
Pearl hummed as she took his Rook. “I hope that attitude doesn’t carry to the battlefield, Mega Steven..”

Mega Steven rolled his eyes. 

Pearl moved her piece, knocking over his Queen. “Ah-ha.”

Mega Steven huffed and looked down at the chessboard, contemplating his next move.

He stared into the black squares, seeing stars and galaxies in it’s void. He remembered being in a small space, floating around. He couldn’t make out any details, but he figured it was a memory.. The ruby was, there, too, mad. Then he saw knives, stabbing, maniacal laughter, and the cold emptiness of space again. 

“Mega Steven..?” Pearl asked. Twoie snapped to attention. “Huh? Oh.. uh.. Sorry.” He blushed. “Was uh.. Just thinking.. About.. My next move!”   
  
Twoie? What was that? Are you okay?   
  
I don’t know. Maybe the meds aren’t working because we’re fused?   
  
Should we unfuse?   
  
I- I don’t know!   


“Mega Steven!” Garnet said. “What’s wrong?”   
  
Mega Steven groaned, body turning to light, form wavering. Everyone backed up. 

“What’s happening??” Greg asked. “Is he okay??”   
  
“He’ll be fine.” Garnet said. “They’re just.. Unsure.”   
  
Mega Steven re-fused, panting and gripping the table. “Hh.. oh god..”   
  
“You okay?” Connie asked.   
  
“M-mhmm.”

“Are you sure?” Connie pressed. “Because, um, you’ve been kinda off all day..”   
  
“W-what?? What do you mean?”   
  
“Your comments earlier, you spacing out.. This just now.. What’s going on?”

“Nothing! Nothing’s going on!” Mega Steven sat up. “I am perfectly fine! Now don’t ask again.”   
  
“Wow, you’re terrible at lying.” Amethyst said. “Dude, seriously, it’s okay. You can tell us.”   
  
“I-- We-- Twoie-- He--” Mega Steven stuttered, then screwed his eyes shut. “I-- Twoie feels bad!” He said, Steven’s voice more present. “Twoie keeps seeing weird stuff! Scary stuff! And I can feel how bad he feels.. He doe--”   
  
Mega Steven slapped himself and growled.    
  
“Shut up! Shut up!”   
  
“Twoie! Don’t hit him!” Pearl said.   
  
“That wasn’t Twoie! That w-was me!”   
  
“Steven?”   
  
“NO! ME! MEGA STEVEN!”

He stood up and clasped his hand over his mouth, mumbling and stumbling around. He gripped his hair and then yanked his hand away from his mouth. “H-- hel--” He shut it again.   
  
“Steven? You need help?”

“No! No-- I’m not Steven! I’m not-- i’m both I..” He panted and collapsed back in his seat. “I feel awful, Pearl, this su-- th-- no! I can’t-- no… Can’t talk.. Don’t wanna.. This--”   


“Just tell us what’s going on in your head, man!” Amethyst pleaded. “We can help!”   
  
“NO! You can’t! Y-you don’t even-- Nobody--” Mega Steven’s eyes flew wide. He saw Garnet splitting down the middle, the fusion monsters, that gray gem, the ruby, a bright, glowing, light--

“I need help!” He cried. “I’m so- so sad all the time! I know I should be better, but I can’t be! I feel like I’m back in the past! When nothing made sense and-- now I’m here! And the future-- and I just  **want everything to _stop_** _**!** _ A-and..” He covered his face. “Steven, why’d you make me-- Twoie, why’d you make us..”   
  
He looked up.

“Say.. that..”

It was silent.

“Twoie..” Pearl sighed, placing a hand on Mega Steven’s shoulder.   
  
“I’m not T-twoie..”   
  
“But.. wasn’t that Twoie speaking j-just now?”

“No..? It’s both.. Of us.”   
  
“So.. I-it’s both of you in there?” Greg whispered. “Steven’s saying all this stuff, too?”   
  
“It’s me, dad.” Mega Steven said. “Not Steven, not Twoie. Me. I’m both of them combined.. But I’m also my own person..”   
  
Everyone was silent again

Mega Steven gulped, feeling his heart rate pick up.

“Stop staring..”

They kept staring.

“I- I said stop staring!”   
  
“Tw-- Mega Steven.” Garnet said gently, placing a hand on his back. “Please, tell me what you- what you meant by wanting ‘ _ everything to end _ ’..”

Mega Steven backed away. “I-- I--”   
  
He turned into light, splitting down the middle and warbling. Everyone backed up. He strained and reformed, looking around in horror. His cheeks went pink and he ran off.   
  
“Mega Steven!” Pearl called.   
  
They ran and ran and ran across the fields until they finally collapsed on a hill near the silo. They unfused and fell down onto the ground. Twoie pulling his jacket over his head. Steven sat up, clutching his stomach.   
  
“...”   
  
“...”   
  
“I-” Steven choked. “Is that how you really feel? All the time?”   
  
“N-- no.” He shook his head. “I don’t really-- really think like that all the time.”   
  
“....” Steven gulped. “W--well, it wasn’t me.”   
  
Twoie glanced back at Steven and then turned around again. Steven bit his lip.   
  
“Is it..?”   
  
“I hated myself at your age.”   
  
Steven paled. “B--but I don’t wa-- wanna..” he teared up. “Don’t want everything to end… I don’t… don't want  _ myself _ to end...”   
  
“.... Sorry, I think that was me.”   
  
“Do you wanna.. Is that why you travelled back??”   
  
“No.. This was an accident, Steven. I don’t wanna kill myself anymore. That was me a year ago. I guess both of our self hatred brought that out again.”   
  
“Oh..” He sniffled and curled up. “I.. I..” He hiccuped. “I ruined everything...”   
  
“You didn’t ruin everything! I did!” Twoie cried, glaring at him. “I’m the jerk who-- ugh! I’m awful!”   
  
“Don’t say mean things about yourself!!”   
  
Twoie blushed and looked down. “Mm..”   
  
Steven stifled a sob. He clamped his hands over his mouth and squeezed his eyes tight.   
  
“... I’m sorry.” Twoie said. “Do you.. Want a hug? I promise not to fuse with you.”   
  
Steven nodded. “I- I do..”

Twoie crawled over and held Steven close, burying his face into his hair. Steven realized he was tearing up, too. 

Steven gripped Twoie’s jacket and cried.    
  
“T- Twoie.. Why am I so messed up..?”   
  
“It’s from trauma, Steven. We have PTSD.”   
  
“I thought only you had that..”   
  
“Well.. I dunno. You might have it or not but you’ll definitely get it.”   
  
“I don’t want it..”   
  
“Well..” He sighed. “Sometimes scary things will happen, and you won’t realize how much they affect you in the moment. Seeing disturbing things, or having to fix someone or poof someone… That can traumatize you. Some a lot more than others.”

“But.. I wanna.. I wanna help t-the gems..”   
  
“Yeah.. I know. And you can. It..” He sighed. “I don’t know how to avoid this. I’m sorry. The most I c-can say is that you should.. Should take care of yourself and.. Learn to say no.. and.. I dunno..” He sighed. “Go to therapy?”   
  
“I don’t wanna..”   
  
“It’s really good in the end..”   
  
“I don’t wanna-- wanna talk anymore..”   
  
“Okay.”   
  
They sat in silence together. Steven cried his emotions out into Twoie’s jacket and Twoie cried too: silent tears rolling down his cheeks. 

Eventually, the white noise of his mind cleared and Steven started to hear the world around him. Crickets chirping, birds cawing, the ocean lapping it’s waves against the distant shore.. He looked up and saw it all. He smiled softly and leaned back into Twoie.   
  
“Hey, look.”    
  
Twoie looked up and smiled.   
  
“Aww.. it’s so nice..”   
  
“Yeah..”   
  
Steven looked up at him.   
  
“S-so.. is Mega Steven always gonna be like that?”   
  
“I don’t know. I hope not.”   
  
“...”   
  
“Do you wanna fuse again?”   
  
“I do. But I’m scared.”   
  
“Me, too.”   
  
“I just wanna.. Wanna be close to you. I..” He sniffled. “I’m still thinking about you.. You being erased from existence.. It’s scary..”   
  
Twoie sighed. “Yeah.. it is..”   
  
He held him closer and shut his eyes.   
  
“It’s scary. But we can’t do anything about it and.. It’s not like I’m  _ really  _ dying. I’ll always be with you.. Because I  _ am  _ you.”

Steven chuckled. “That’s cheesy.”   
  
“I know.” He smiled. “I wanted to make you laugh.”   
  
Steven leaned back into him and sighed. “I love you, Twoie. I dunno if that’s weird because we’re the same person but.. Um. You’re a really good friend and I.. I love you.”   
  
Twoie’s eyes widened and he teared up. “Oh.. I..” He wiped his eyes. “I love you, too.. A-and..” He chuckled weakly. “I think we could use a  _ lot  _ of self love, so it isn’t weird..”

Steven nodded, smiling. “Definitely.”   
  
He hugged him and Twoie held back. They glowed and fused together. Mega Steven watched the horizon, heart lighter.

\----

They eventually returned to the gems, who were very concerned. He reassured them that Twoie and Steven talked it out and were okay now. They weren’t in the mood to get too deep with them right now as it was approaching the end of the day. The gems respected his wishes but still gave them a big group hug. Mega Steven melted into it with a bit of coaxing from Steven. Connie hugged him too.   
  
After they all separated, Mega Steven reassured Connie, too. He wasn’t gonna hurt himself and he was fine. Connie hugged him again and Mega Steven held her back for as long as she needed.   
  
It was about 8 pm now and Connie was crawling into her tent. Pearl and Garnet went to the barn and Amethyst laid in the grass to nap under the stars. Mega Steven was heading to his tent, too, when he felt Greg grab his shoulder.   
  
“Hey, Scthu-ball? Can I.. see you in the van for a sec?”   
  
“Huh? Oh, sure.” Mega Steven said. “Just.. just one of us, or--?”   
  
“Both. You can stay fused.”   
  
“Okay..?” Mega Steven said, suspicion creeping up his neck. “I-if this is about earlier, I’d rather sleep--”   
  
“It’s more than that. Please. Just.. let’s talk in the van.”   
  
Mega Steven took in Greg’s desperate expression and sighed. “Okay.”   
  
They walked to the van and Mega Steven shut the doors, scooting in and half laying down. Greg smiled weakly.   
  
“Heh. A bit small, huh?”   
  
“Yep.”   
  
“Here.” Greg leaned over and pulled the front seats down. Mega Steven stretched out and smiled. “Much better. Now I can kinda sit up!”   
  
“That’s good..” 

“So.. what did you wanna talk to me about?”   
  
Greg sat back, latticing his fingers together and breathing out slowly.   
  
“Do you.. Do you remember when you first moved in with the gems?” He asked, not really wanting an answer. “You were about twelve then.. So excited to live with them. I remember you Going  _ on  _ and  _ on  _ about how you’d be a super cool superhero and you couldn’t wait..”   
  
He sighed.   
  
“I dropped you off and you just.. Moved in. But I didn’t mind. I mean.. You were gonna learn about gem stuff! I obviously couldn’t cover that. And.. I thought.. Well: they’ll teach him everything he needs to know about being a gem. He’ll come back with.. Crazy weird magic powers that would _ blow my mind _ and they’d go on cool  _ missions  _ together.."   
  
“I thought missions were.. Were just silly little adventures. I thought you wouldn’t be in any danger. But when I came along for that water witch thing.. I realized just how little I knew. It was dangerous. It was life th-threatening and nobody was stepping in! I just couldn’t believe it.. But.. the gems reassured me that you were well taken care of. Fed, clothed.. All that.”   
  
He put a hand on his forehead and sighed shakily.   
  
“So I kept letting you go on missions. Because I figured it was fine. You were fine. You were a happy kid and you were just so excited about every mission.. You’d tell me about them all the time but.. I realized that you began to leave out details..” He bit his lip. “I thought that maybe you were just.. Bored of telling me everything but I’m starting to think now that you just didn’t want me to  _ know _ .”   
  
“Dad..”   
  
Greg pulled his knees to his chest.   
  
“I should’ve stepped in. I should’ve been there for you. This.. this whole thing about everyone trying to kill you.. Everyone thinking you’re Rose..? It’s messed up. And it’s obviously affecting you.”   
  
He held Mega Steven’s hand.   
  
“So..” Tears brimmed his eyes. He blinked them away. “I just wanted to say that I’m  **_sorry_ ** .”

“D-dad..” Mega Steven. “No…”   
  
“When I raised you I’d knew that there’d be moments I’d miss.. Things I  _ couldn’t  _ do for you-- s-space that I  _ couldn’t  _ fill. I knew that I wasn’t ready- I’d come up  _ short _ … I just couldn’t provide you with everything you deserved and I  **_can’t_ ** ...” He sniffled, ducking his head down and grabbing both of Mega Steven’s hands, gripping them with his shaking hands.   
  
“I know I’m gonna still fail in the future. I know I can’t always do everything you  _ need  _ but.. I wanna be more in-involved in your life.. I want to  **be there** for you. For when there’s things that you can’t talk to the gems about: I’ll be there.. And when you just need a- a shoulder to- to cry on..”   
  
Mega Steven sobbed.   
  
“I’ll be there.” Greg whispered, embracing him.   
  
“For  **both** of you. Forever.  _ No matter how hard it gets _ , I wanna be there for my son.. I wanna make sure he- he doesn’t feel like he did today.”   
  
Greg sobbed.   
  
“I love you.”

Mega Steven’s eyes welled up with tears and he wailed, sobbing heavily into his dad's shirt and shaking with every sob. Greg held him close and rocked him back and forth like he did when he was small, cradling him and hoping to god he was doing a good job. Mega Steven sobbed louder, shaking and gripping his shirt desperately. 

Mega Steven stayed there in his father’s arms until his breaths were even and his face was soaked with tears. Greg’s was too and they smiled at each other in understanding.

“I love you, too, dad.” Mega Steven said. “Y-you’re the best. You..” He hiccuped and wiped his eyes. “You’re the  _ best  _ dad e-ever.”

Greg smiled and rubbed at his eyes.   
  
“Aw, c’mon, Schtu-ball. I’m gonna start bawling again.”

Mega Steven chuckled weakly and Greg ruffled his hair.   
  
“You’re the best son ever.”   
  
Mega Steven shut his eyes and unfused. Twoie and Steven hugged Greg. Twoie was still shaking.    
  
Greg held them back and propped up his pillow, laying back. Steven pulled up the blanket and cuddled him. Twoie did so too and shut his eyes. Greg smiled and kissed their foreheads before they all fell asleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please leave a comment if you enjoyed!


	12. It Could Have Been Great

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The gems and Twoie go to the moon and Steven learns about the diamonds.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> theres a section in this thats kinda ooc but it was too funny not to include so uhhhhh pls dont hate

Steven strummed his ukelele softly, laying against Lion's body. Twoie was next to him, leaning back and watching the sunset. Steven looked up at him and smiled. Wordlessly, he handed the ukulele to Twoie. Twoie smiled and took it, strumming and humming. Steven chuckled and leaned against his shoulder, watching him play.

Connie had left yesterday, and Mega Steven had too. It was fun, being together like that, but they both realized they liked being themselves as well. They’d form him other times, but for now, they were content just being together like this. Steven had grown very comfortable around Twoie over the past month or so, and saw him as a big brother figure. Although he never had a brother, nor did he know much about them, he figured Twoie was pretty much like that. He didn’t tell Twoie this, but he sensed that he knew, and also thought of Steven as his little brother. 

Steven shut his eyes, hugging Twoie’s arm. He loved the soft fabric of his jacket. He couldn’t wait to get his own.   
  
Twoie chuckled and ruffled his hair. 

“Steven.”    
  
Steven opened his eyes and looked up. 

“Hey, Peridot.” He yawned, sitting up and stretching. 

“Why did we stop working on the drill?? Why are they just sitting there, looking at  _ nothing _ ?”

Steven smiled. “We worked hard and we deserve to take it easy for a little bit. I mean.. Just look at that view!”   
  
He gestured behind him. Twoie looked back and smiled, resuming his gazing. He nudged the ukulele back into Steven’s hands. 

Peridot sneered. “It’s going to be blown into oblivion by The Cluster if we don’t get back to work!”

“Working hard is important, but  _ feeling  _ good is important, too!”

Peridot groaned and tensed, activating the drill. “What are you talking about!?”

Steven looked at the drill. If he could just get her to relax...

“Hey! Bzzz… What is that a- a C?”

He plucked the C chord on his ukelele.

“The drill?” Peridot asked. 

“Yeah!” He stood, walking over.   
  
She whirred the drill. He gasped.   
  
“Oh my gosh-- now it’s music!”   
  
“Music?”   
  
“Yeah!” He beamed. “Like this!”   
  
He played some on his ukelele.

Peridot took interest in his music, musing about what he was actually making and the purpose of it. Steven smiled and played a song he was working on, trying to get her into it. Twoie caught on and joined in with Steven after some coaxing. Soon, they had a harmony going and Peridot settled down, analyzing the music in her head and looking at the sunset. 

After that, they continued work on the drill. Hammering, welding, scavenging, singing and taking breaks. Peridot liked the song and loosened up a little, telling everyone that, even though they’re insane, she was too and they were all stuck on Earth together. Steven interpreted that as a “I like you guys. Even though I don’t wanna say it.”

Two nights later, they had gotten the drill completed. Steven stared up at it, marvelling at it’s size. They had actually done it!

Behind him, he heard Peridot squeak. He turned and watched as everyone laughed at whatever he had missed. He smiled and hugged her from behind. Twoie pat her hair.    
  
“We really did it, huh?” Peridot mumbled.   
  
“We?” Steven asked. We!! She was a part of the team!!

“Oh, wait!” Peridot said, ignoring him. “I need to check something!”    
  
She ran up to the drill and climbed inside. Steven sighed happily. 

“She’s come so far! It feels like yesterday when she was trying to kill us.”   
  
“No, no. That was several weeks ago.” Pearl said. 

“Co-ordinates!” Peridot said. “We still need The Cluster’s exact coordinates in order to drill!”

“Ah, right..” Twoie nodded. “We need to go  _ there _ , huh?”

“There?” Steven asked, looking up at him.    
  
Twoie looked down. “Oh, sorry.. I was thinking to myself. Um.. The moon. We need to go to an old diamond base to get information.”   
  
Pearl huffed. “I was gonna say that.”   
  
Twoie blushed. “Sorry.”

“Well, getting there’s going to be difficult anyways.” Pearl said.   
  
“How come?” Steven asked.   
  
“Because it’s not accessible by warp pad. And it’s on…” She looked towards the moon. Steven gasped. “The moon..!”

Twoie shrugged. “We can just use Lion to get there.”   
  
Steven looked to Lion.    
  
“Lion! Can you make us a special super warp to the moon?!”

Lion yawned.    
  
“C’mon! We gotta do this to stop The Cluster! If we don’t, there’s gonna be no more Earth! No more fun times with your pals.. No more Lion Lickers.. No more naps!”   
  
At naps, Lion got up and roared, his eyes glowing white.   
  
Steven chuckled.   
  
“Guess it was naps.”   
  
Pearl, Garnet, and Amethyst climbed onto Lion’s back. Steven, Peridot, and Twoie got into his mane, their heads poking out. They warped to the moon, sliding in and slamming against the wall. Steven hopped out and held Lion’s snout.   
  
“Lion! You okay, bud?”

Peridot huffed. “Get me outta this furry freak-- whoa!” She tripped over his paw and fell. 

Lion panted. Steven smiled. “Aw. You’ve earned your naps for the week.” He snuggled him. 

Pearl and Garnet used their gems as flashlights, looking around the base. Steven hummed. 

“It doesn’t look like the moon…” He mused, getting up and looking around. 

Twoie was standing below a mural of a pink woman with spiky hair and a few circles around her. Steven jogged over, bouncing a little because of gravity. He giggled and landed next to Twoie.   
  
“Heya.”   
  
“Hey.”   


Steven looked up at the mural.   
  
“Who’s this?”   
  
“Pink Diamond.”   
  
“Ooh.. She looks cool.”   
  
“She was a jerk.”   
  
“Oh. Have.. you met her?”   
  
Twoie snorted. “Nah.. she died around the time I was born.”   
  
Steven looked back up at her. “Huh. Hey-- look what I can do.”   
  
He jumped up, floating for a bit and laughing.   
  
“I’m a moon boy!!”

Amethyst ran over and beamed. “All right, I wanna be a moon boy!”   
  
She jumped and fell normally. Steven giggled and bounced around, looking down at Twoie. Twoie was looking at Pink Diamond again. Steven turned, ignoring him and bouncing around still, doing backflips.   
  
“I was bouncin’ on the moon one day--  _ OOF-- _ ”   
  
He smacked into a wall and landed on the ground. He looked up at the wall and squinted.   
  
“... Hey, Twoie! Who’s this supposed to be?”   
  
Twoie looked over. “Oh, that’s Blue.”   
  
“Blue Diamond?”   
  
“Yeah.”   
  
Peridot gasped. “Blue Diamond?! Are they all here!?” She looked around. 

Twoie walked over to Steven, looking up at Blue.   
  
“Hm. She looks different.”   
  
“What do you mean?”   
  
“Her hair is straight. When--” He cut himself off. “Nevermind.”   
  
Steven frowned. “C’mon… Tell me!”   
  
“Can’t. Might mess up the timeline.”   
  
Steven groaned. “UGH! Stupid fragile timeline.. Well.. can you at least tell me who the diamonds are?”

Peridot looked over, gasping. “You don’t know!?”   
  
“Yeah, sure. I can tell you.” Twoie said, ignoring Peridot. 

He pointed to White.   
  
“White Diamond is a super huge, clingy, control freak, and I hate her.”   
  
He pointed to Yellow.   
  
“ 丑 .”

Pointed to Blue.   
  
“She’s the most okay but also screw her.”   
  
Pointed to Pink.   
  
“.... Ugh. Just ugh. Hate her.”

Steven frowned. Was there any Diamond he  _ did  _ like?   
  
Peridot smacked Twoie’s shoulder. Twoie looked down.   
  
“What.”   
  
“HOW DARE YOU SPEAK OF THE DIAMONDS THIS WAY! YOU COULD BE SHATTERED FOR THIS!”   
  
“I don’t care.” Twoie deadpanned.

“Twoie.” Pearl said. Twoie looked back. Pearl crossed her arms. “First of all, you need to watch your language. Secondly, how can you even say that stuff? You’ve never met the Diamonds-- and you most certainly haven’t met Pink.”   
  
Twoie paused for a second then sighed. “...You’re right... I’m sorry. I  _ promise  _ not to  _ say  _ anything bad about the Diamonds or  _ say  _ any more swears..”

Pearl smiled, pleased.

“And, hey, on an unrelated note, do you have anything I can write with, Pearl? Like a pen or.. Spray can?” Twoie asked.   
  
Pearl quirked a brow. “Uh.. yes?” She brought out a white spray can. “Why?”   
  
“Can you toss it?”   
  
“Yes, I can.” She tossed it to him. It floated up and Twoie jumped to grab it. He landed and walked to Blue’s mural.   
  
Pearl paled. “Twoie, don't.”

Amethyst grinned. Garnet looked at him from over her glasses. 

Twoie looked back at them.   
  
He looked at Blue.   
  
“...”   
  
He grinned and started to spray paint Gemgliph all over her mural. 

“OH MY STARS!” Peridot gasped. “HOW DARE YOU--”   
  
“TWOIE, THAT’S ILLEGAL!” Steven cried.   
  
“THE MOON HAS NO LAWS!” Twoie yelled back. Amethyst guffawed, bent over. “DARN TOOTIN’!” She hollered.   
  
“TWOIE!” Pearl screeched, running over. “YOU STOP THAT RIGHT NOW!”   
  
“What?? I’m not  **saying** anything bad! I’m  **writing** it!” He smirked, jumping up to Blue’s face and adding a mustache.   


Pearl growled and looked back at Garnet. “GARNET! HELP!”   
  
Garnet hummed. “... Don’t write anything too bad--”   
  
“YOU’RE OKAY WITH THIS!?”   
  
Twoie laughed. “Yeah!  ⏚⍝⏤⏛  Blue!”   
  
“LANGUAGE!” Pearl, Steven, and Garnet all said. Twoie shrugged. “Sorry! I’m trying to spare Steven!”   
  
“You’ve sworn in front of me before!!”   
  
Twoie blushed, focusing back on writing on White’s mural. “Uh- that was an accident!”   
  
Steven facepalmed, groaning as he heard Pearl frantically chase Twoie around as he painted all of the murals with disrespectful language and art. Amethyst kept hollering in laughter, Garnet did nothing, and Peridot fumed silently.

In the middle of Steven painting a big, english. “SCREW YOU” over Pink, Pearl grabbed him and brought him down.   
  
“YOU ARE SO GROUNDED, YOUNG MAN!”

“YOU CAN’T DO THAT!” Twoie shouted back.    
  
“YES, I CAN! I’M YOUR GUARDIAN AND--”

“NO, YOU’RE NOT!”   
  
“YES, I AM--”

“ _ MY _ GUARDIAN’S FOUR YEARS IN THE FUTURE!” He blew a raspberry. Pearl growled.   
  
“Twoie! Cut it out.” Garnet said. “We’ve done enough. You are grounded for a week.”   
  
“What?? But you--”   
  
“I don’t support your language and your treatment towards Pearl. You’re lucky it isn’t a month.”   
  
Twoie sighed. “Okay..”   
  
Peridot crossed her arms. “Well, THAT’S finally over. Now that you’re done being a horrible traitor to the Diamonds can we PLEASE get the drill coordinates?!”   
  
“Yeah.” Twoie said.    
  
“Sounds good to me!” Said Amethyst.   
  
Steven just groaned. 

They went up the stairs that Peridot activated during Twoie’s vandalism escapade. On the second floor was a large dome surrounding a white throne and a console. Peridot rushed up to the console, grinning.   
  
“Oh my goodness-- this looks like it could be brand new!”   
  
Steven went up the stairs with Twoie as Peridot rambled about the console. He saw the throne and sat down in it. He looked at the armrests and saw a handprint. He smiled, placing his hand there and activating the console.    
  
“Hey, it’s got one of those glowy hand dealies!”

“YOU CAN’T SIT THERE!” Peridot shouted. Steven frowned. “Why not? It’s really cool!”

“THAT CHAIR IS ONLY FOR THE DIAMONDS! ONLY THE ELITE CAN SIT THERE-- NOT YOU! And  _ definitely  _ not  **_you.”_ ** She pointed to Twoie. Twoie smirked. 

Steven thought.

“Well… they’re not here now, right?”   
  
He scooted over and pat the throne. Peridot glanced around nervously as if a Diamond would just waltz into the room and catch her before sitting down. She giggled.   
  
Twoie jumped up and sat at the top of the throne.    
  
“Heh. Yep. No Diamonds here!” He said smugly. “Not one, not  _ two _ , zero!”

“Uh.. yes. That is true!” He said, tilting his head.   
  
He saw Pearl glare at Twoie. Twoie shrugged and snickered. Pearl squinted then rolled her eyes, turning back to the console. 

Peridot moved the throne up and started to tap on the console, looking around for the files and groaning about how old the system was. Steven watched as Diamond shaped files and Diamond apps and buttons appeared and disappeared. Wow, the Diamond’s  _ really  _ loved themselves… maybe too much.

“WAIT!”   
  
Peridot jolted, looking up at Twoie. “What!?”   
  
“Can you look up the.. Uh-- Pearl, what’s it called?”   
  
Pearl quirked an eyebrow. “Um. I don’t know what--”   
  
“The adhesive. The adhesive. I need to get back home--”   
  
“OH!” Pearl gasped. “Yes! Yes! Peridot, please, look up what planet the.. Oh, dear, how to.. Agh, I can’t translate it-- look up ‘ ⍽⏆⍚⍚⏇ ⏆⎍⎐⎍⎍⎍’, please.”

Peridot looked it up. There was a diamond shaped icon, with a picture of a pink goop in it. Gemgliph rolled on screen. Peridot hummed.   
  
“Says it’s in Sector 7, Quadrant 9 at 3.02 and 5.40… Why?”   
  
“We need those coordinates to fix a time glass. Just put them in your uh… whatever that is you’re using to collect this.”   
  
Peridot nodded and tapped a diamond icon. The diamond file swooshed away and the console beeped. 

“Okay.. back to the  _ actual  _ mission…” Peridot groaned. “I’ve found the insertion point. In the Beta Kindergarten, facet 9. However, it travelled down and is now buried deep in the mantle.”   
  
The screen showed a circle where The Cluster was.

“Relative to the barn it is about 2,500 units down. All we need to do is feed this data to the drill and we should be all set.”   
  
Pearl smiled. “That’s it, then! Mission accomplished!”

“Great. Let’s get outta here..” Amethyst groaned.    
  
Steven hopped down from the chair and looked up at the screen.   
  
“Wait, hold on! Does this thing have any games on it?”

“No, no, no. This wasn’t used for  _ games.  _ It was used for planning the colony.”   
  
She slid her fingers up the console. Multiple red dots appeared on the map of the Earth, blinking.   
  
“So here’s a map of all structures that were originally built on Earth. All told, this probably only accounts for maybe 5% of what was originally planned.”   
  
“What was the plan?” Steven asked.   


“Well, let’s take a look.” Peridot said, tapping a few buttons. On screen, the Earth was displayed. Immediately it was eroded away, hollowed out, a shell of its former self. Gem structures and warp pads covered it. Steven felt his stomach drop. Everyone gasped.    
  
Twoie turned away from the screen, still laying on top of the throne.

“Ta-da! A finished Earth colony! Wow. Look at this! 89 Kindergartens, 67 Spires, A galaxy warp in each facet-- efficient use of all available materials-- what were you thinking shutting this operation down? It could’ve been  **great** !”

“You’re wrong!” Garnet shouted. 

“What do you mean?” Peridot frowned. “It’s perfect. Look at it.”   
  
“We  _ are _ looking at it.” Pearl said.

“Yeah, this plan stinks!” Amethyst crossed her arms.   
  
“Completing this colony would’ve meant the extinction of all life on Earth!” Garnet huffed. 

“But think of the good it would’ve done! The gems that would’ve been made, our empire expanded!”   
  
Steven frowned, looking between them as they argued. He looked back up at the Earth. He felt cold all of a sudden.

“There’d be no Cluster if the Earth had stayed a colony! Now there’s  _ no  _ colony and there’s  _ gonna _ be no Earth! So, thank you, Rose Quartz, you doomed the planet!”   
  
Steven backed up, glancing up at the gems. They looked furious. Pearl’s fists clenched, Garnet summoned her gauntlets, Amethyst glared at her. He glanced up at Twoie quickly. He was still laying there. He was tense, shoulders hunched and turned away. Steven gulped and looked back at Peridot. They’d poof her again--

“Oh!~” He sang shakily. “Is there anything that’s worth more than--”

Garnet grabbed Peridot by her shirt, lifting her up to her face. Steven whimpered.   
  
“You. Listen to me. Now.” She growled. “You are talking about things you do not understand.”

“Garnet, stop, please!” Steven begged. “It’s not worth it… We’re done here, let’s just… go home.”

Garnet turned and slammed her gauntlet into the console, smashing it to pieces. 

The gems left the console to go back downstairs. 

Steven watched them go. He sighed.   
  
“What’d I say?” Peridot asked. “I’m just stating a fact. The rebellion didn’t really  _ save  _ Earth. It just  _ delayed  _ the inevitable.”

Steven groaned. “That’s not the way they see it. They’ve spent thousands of years trying to protect the Earth. I thought maybe… you finally understood why.”

He hopped down the steps.    
  
“...”   
  
He looked up. 

“Peridot!”   
  
“What? I’m coming!”   
  
She hopped down too, walking past him quickly. Steven stared. She had a diamond shaped device in her hand. Each of the sides different colours corresponding to each diamond. He sighed and let it go.   
  
“C’mon, you too!” Garnet called from the steps. Steven looked up to Twoie.   
  
“Twoie! Come down here!”   
  
Twoie curled up more.   
  
“... Twoie?”   
  
Twoie sat up and sighed.   
  
“Coming.”   
  
He hopped off the throne and walked back. Steven frowned and followed him.

\----

It was almost midnight now and Steven had just finished brushing his teeth. He was very glad warp pads were a thing so he didn’t have to spend the night at the barn. He walked out of the bathroom and yawned, trudging towards the stairs.   
  
He stopped when he saw Twoie, on the couch, staring at the ceiling.   
  
He hummed and moved over, sitting down at his feet.   
  
“... Hey.”   
  
Twoie jolted and sat up. “Uh-- hey. What’s up?”   
  
“... I wanted to ask you some stuff.”

Twoie rubbed his eyes and leaned back against the couch.   
  
“Okay… what is it?”

“.... Why do you hate the Diamonds?”

Twoie sighed.    
  
“Well… They were- are? W..” He frowned. “... Are. Currently. Bad people. They shatter, they control, they’re selfish jerks. I mean, yeah, they have the potential to be good and all that but I still don’t like them. White’s so controlling and insensitive, Blue was a shatterer and doesn’t even regret it, Yellow is just- ugh. And Pink was so selfish.”   


“How was she selfish?”   
  
“She…”   
  
Twoie sighed.   
  
“I can’t tell you much, but she just  _ was _ . I mean... “ He groaned and looked up at Rose’s portrait. “She… I guess I can’t blame her too much. She was just… raised that way and she did become better in the end… but I still just… hate her so much because I had to be the one to clean up her mess.”   
  
Steven furrowed his brows.   
  
Twoie looked downwards. “Everything she screwed up, I have to deal with. Just because I--” He paused. “B-because I live on Earth. She’s the one who made the kindergartens, who… who… well, I can’t get into anything else.”   
  
“Why not?”   
  
“Timeline junk.”   
  
“Mm.”   
  
“God, I regret writing that stuff on her mural.” he groaned. “She didn’t deserve that… She was the best diamond of them all… she  _ changed _ and…  _ was better _ . All she wanted was to be respected and stuff but… instead she was berated and abused and…”   
  
He glanced up at Rose again.   
  
“... I’m such a jerk. I shouldn’t hate her… But I still feel like she’s the one to blame.”   


Steven placed a hand on his shoulder.    
  
“It’s okay.. We all make mistakes. Maybe we can go up there and erase it all.”   
  
“Maybe.” He leaned against him. “Still. If it weren’t for her, the war wouldn’t have happened.. But the war needed to happen and.. Ugh.”   
  
“...” Steven bit his lip.   
  
“You said… Pink Diamond became better. What do you mean by that? Did she and Rose become friends in the end to end the war?”   
  
Twoie laughed weakly.   
  
“No… but that would’ve been nice, huh?”   
  
He leaned against the back of the couch, biting his lip.   
  
“...”   
  
Steven laced his fingers together and fidgeted. “If you can’t tell me because of timeline stuff--”   
  
“No, I could tell you. I’m just not sure I should…”

“Aw, c’mon!” Steven smiled. “Tell me!”   
  
“... R-rose Quartz…”   
  
He took a deep breath.   
  
“Shattered Pink Diamond. That’s how the-... war… ended…”   
  
Steven paled.    
  
“She what? Are… is-” He looked up at Rose’s portrait. “... No way.”   
  
Twoie sighed. “Yeah, no, it-- well. That’s what everyone thinks happened.”   
  
“Huh?” Steven frowned. “So she didn’t?”   
  
“Well, she killed Pink Diamond. In a way. But she never shattered her gem.”   
  
“Huh?”   
  
Twoie groaned. “Ugh. I wanna tell you the truth but… I can’t.”   
  
“Wait-- so did mom shatter someone or not?”   
  
“No. Well-- maybe? I’m sure during the war she had to. Pearl and Garnet, too.. It was a war.”   
  
“But did she shatter Pink Diamond?”   
  
“No. But Pink died that day.”   
  
“Because of her?”   
  
“Yes.”   
  
“But she didn’t shatter her.”   
  
“No.”

Steven flung his arms out. “Then what happened!?? What!?!?”   
  
Twoie groaned. “I shouldn’t have said anything.”   
  
“Well, too bad, because now you gotta tell me everything!”   
  
“I’m not gonna.”   
  
“Why not!?”   
  
“You’re not ready.”   
  
Steven stomped his foot. “That’s not fair! She’s  _ my _ mom! I deserve to know!”   
  
Twoie sighed. “I know… but you’re not ready! Nobody is… It’ll tear this family apart and we can’t do that right now. We need to do this after a lot of stuff--”   
  
“Then just tell me! I won’t tell anyone else!” He sniffled. Either Mom shattered someone, or she did something much, much, worse. Rose was always so mysterious, and now she just seemed vaguely bad. Everyone knew so much and he was kept in the dark.    
  
“Steven--”   
  
Pearl warped in. Twoie looked up at her. Steven stared.   
  
Pearl looked between them.   
  
“Um.. is this a bad time?”   
  
Steven clenched his fists. “No. This is the perfect time.”   
  
“Steven, no--”   
  
“Did mom shatter Pink Diamond!?”   
  
Pearl’s eyes went wide. “I…” She glanced to Twoie. Twoie smiled weakly. “I.. I didn’t tell him much.. I.. I only told him that, but then backtracks a-and told him it was a lie but I didn’t tell him the truth!”   
  
“So she knows, too!?” Steven gasped.    
  
Pearl cleared her throat.   
  
“Steven. There’s something I’ve wanted to tell you for a long time.”   
  
“STOP!” Twoie yelled. “NOT YET! HE’S NOT READY!”   
  
Pearl scowled. “You gave me the right to tell him whenever I wanted, Twoie. I want to  _ now _ .”

“But… But he won’t be able to keep the secret. He’ll tell Garnet, and she’ll fall apart. Amethyst will go through a whole thing and.. We have to deal with The Cluster! We need all of us at  _ our best  _ for that. Please. And for Malachite!”

Pearl narrowed her eyes.   
  
“Pearl, please.” Steven begged. “Tell me.”   
  
Pearl sighed.   
  
“I’ll tell you after The Cluster is taken care of, okay, Steven? I promise.”   
  
Steven whined. “Please--”   
  
Pearl held up a hand.   
  
“I want to tell you, I really do. But… Twoie’s right. I should wait just a little longer until we’re at a stable point. I’ll tell you then.”   
  
Steven sighed.

Pearl leaned down and hugged him. “It’ll be okay, Steven. I’ll tell you soon.”   
  
“C-can you at least tell me i-if it was a bad thing..?”   
  
“It.. it depends on who you are if it’s bad or not..”   
  
“Did- did she really.. Shatter someone?”   
  
“She didn’t shatter Pink Diamond. However, during the war, we all had to do things we didn’t want to do. But.. she was a good person, Steven. Know that.”   
  
Steven nodded. “O-okay.”   
  
Pearl kissed his forehead and got up. “Now go to bed, Steven. We got a big day tomorrow.”   
  
Steven nodded. “Okay.”   
  
Pearl went to her room.   
  
Steven looked back at Twoie. Twoie sighed and walked past him. Steven frowned.   
  
“Where are you going?”   
  
“Away. Go to bed. I’ll be back soon.”   
  
He warped away.

  
Steven sighed and looked up at Rose’s portrait. He clutched his shirt.   
  
“... What did you do, Mom?"   


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> leave a comment if you enjoyed!


	13. Message Received

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Peridot betrays the Crystal Gems, Twoie finds it hits too close to home.

Steven glared at the barn, watching Peridot pace back and forth with the diamond shaped object in her hands. He narrowed his eyes, going inside after her.   
  
“Oh! Steven!”   
  
“Peridot.” He huffed. “I need to talk to you.”

“Uh, yeah, sure..”

Steven got into the broken down truck, shutting the door behind him. He ignored Peridot’s complaining as she got inside the passenger's seat.   
  
“I wanted to ask you about the Diamonds.” He said, glancing down at her hand, hidden behind her back.   
  
“Oh!” She perked up. “Well, despite what the taller human says, there’s a reason the Diamonds are in charge.”   
  
“Why’s that?”   
  
“They’re objectively better than us! Every gem has their strengths and weaknesses-- but not them. They’re absolutely, totally, completely flawless beings! Especially  _ my  _ Diamond. _ Yellow Diamond.  _ The most perfect, the most reasonable, rational, efficient decider in the universe!”

Steven sighed.   
  
“You’re really loyal to her, aren’t you?”

“How could I  _ not  _ be? We might have our little  _ truce _ , but I’ll never forsake the gem I was made for!”

“That’s good..” Steven nodded slowly. “Because she’s right behind you!”   
  
“What!?”   
  
Steven snatched the diamond shaped device from her hand and escaped the car, locking her inside. She squealed, pounding on the window. She whined and sank down after Steven told her she’d never escape. He held up the device.   
  
“What is this? I saw you sneak it off the Moon base!”

“It’s nothing special. And definitely not important at all…”   
  
Steven glared and picked up a hammer, holding it to the device.    
  
“Then you won’t mind if I smash it?”

“No, no, no, no, wait!!” Peridot gasped. “Ugh! Fine. It’s… a communicator. Meant for the express purpose of contacting The Diamonds.”   
  
Steven glared. “You’re still trying to contact Homeworld?”

“Yes! Of course! I figured it out-- you simple clods keep trying to protect the Earth but you can’t do anything  _ right _ ! I let myself get carried away, too. Laughing, singing, building our little machine. But don’t you see? None of that matters. All that matters is that I’m of use to Yellow Diamond! This  _ planet  _ can be of use to Yellow Diamond!”

Steven felt a pit his his stomach, he backed up.   
  
“But The Diamonds are bad! They.. well.. They did a lot of bad stuff! They shattered people and.. And wanted to hollow out the Earth!”   
  
“Yes! That’s the point!”   


“Ugh-- why do I keep sticking my neck out for you!? You’re never gonna be on our side!”   
  
He turned and ran towards the gems, calling out to them. He ignored Peridot’s pleas from behind him and showed them the communicator.   
  
Pearl gasped.   
  
“She took a direct line to the Diamonds!? From the moon base!? What was she thinking!!”   
  
Steven watched her, feeling himself bubble up in anger. Ugh-- he thought they were finally getting along, that all his hard work and friendship had paid off into her being on their side and trusting them. He definitely trusted her!! And… and Twoie said that she’d be a Crystal Gem… maybe the timeline changed? Maybe they’d never be friends? Maybe they’d just have to poof and bubble her stupid--

**_HONKKKK HONK_ **

Steven pulled up his hoodie, yanking the strings taught.    
  
“I see she knows what a  _ horn  _ is now.” He grumbled.   
  
Garnet looked down at him.   
  
“You offered her a lot of your trust.”

“I DID!” Steven yelled. “And it blew up in my face! You guys have been protecting the Earth for thousands of years-- she could’ve destroyed all of that! The whole Earth!”    
  
He sighed.   
  
“Why did I think  _ I  _ could change her mind.”   
  
“It’ll be alright.” Twoie said, patting Steven’s head. Steven smacked his hand away. “But it won’t.”   
  
“I know how this plays out--”   
  
“I don’t CARE!” He flailed. “I don’t care about the stupid  _ future _ ! I care about _now_! I care about Peridot’s b-betrayal and-- ugh! You lied!”   
  
“What?”   
  
“You LIED. She’s not gonna be a Crystal Gem!”   
  
“She will be.”   
  
“What if the timeline changed??”   
  
“It didn’t.”   
  
“But it has! You said so! That everything’s changed and that’s why you’re gonna die and why Peridot’s being mean and why-- why-- AUGH!”   
  
Twoie backed up. “Um… Sorry. I--”   
  
“Sorry.” Steven huffed, sitting down with his arms crossed.   
  
Pearl and Amethyst glanced at Twoie. Twoie gulped.   
  
“.... We’ll talk about it later, okay, Steven?”   
  
Steven didn’t respond.   
  
Twoie sighed.   
  
“Well… even if you don’t care… um… things  _ will  _ turn out okay. Just.. thought you should know.”

It was silent for a few moments, then the barn front exploded into wood chips. Peridot came out in her giant robot, cackling. 

“Oh, c’mon!!” Steven shouted. “How did you escape!?”

“FOOLS!” She yelled. “Your invisible rotary shield was no match for me once I applied logic!!”

Steven threw his hands up and groaned as the Crystal Gems went ahead to her. Peridot grabbed the truck and launched it at them, then stole the communicator and ran off.   
  
“See!? None of you know what you’re doing!”

“Oh-ho-hoKAY!” Amethyst laughed through her gritted teeth. “I been ready for THIS!”   
  
She shapeshifted into a helicopter.    
  
“Get in.”

Steven looked away, stomping his foot against the ground. Been ready for this-- so she never trusted her either-- why did STEVEN trust her!? Why didn’t she just KNOW not to do anything bad?!

“Stupid Peridot, stupid giant robot, oh why oh why did I have to encourage her!?” He ranted to himself aloud. Garnet grabbed him and brought him into the helicopter.   
  
“There’s no time for feeling horrible. We have to catch Peridot before she contacts Yellow Diamond!”

Pearl smiled and pat his head as they took off.   
  
“That’s right, you can feel horrible all you want back at the temple.”   
  
Steven frowned and looked up at her in confusion.

They chased after her in the helicopter, shooting her down and collapsing her robot. Steven hung onto Garnet as she pounded the exterior with her gauntlets. He saw Peridot climb out and grab the communicator. Rage filled his limbs as he dove for her. They argued and Steven tried his best to get back the communicator, but it was too late. She contacted Yellow Diamond. 

They had to hide behind the broken robot as she talked to her. Yellow Diamond was massive, and she had another Pearl with her. When Steven was first told about other pearls, he was expecting them all to look like Pearl… he was glad they didn’t. They watched as Peridot got shut down by Yellow, and then Yellow got insulted by Peridot. Garnet was frozen, Amethyst was giddy, Pearl shocked. Twoie kept snickering and cheering her on under his breath, and Steven felt himself get lighter as Peridot stood her ground. So he wasn’t completely wrong after all-- and Twoie didn’t lie! She was gonna be a Crystal Gem!

After Peridot hung up, Steven rushed in with everyone, congratulating her on her rebellion and her being a Crystal Gem. 

\----

That night, Steven, although very happy about what Peridot did, still felt weird about what happened. He couldn’t understand why-- but her ‘betrayal’ still really got to him. What if… what if one day he wasn’t actually able to change someone’s mind? What if one day… they were just mean? And didn’t wanna be friends or stop destroying the Earth? What if he got seriously hurt..?    
  
He sighed and rubbed his temples.   
  
“Shut up, brain..” He mumbled to himself. “Now’s sleep time. Not paranoia time.”

“Hey, buddy.”   
  
Steven jolted, looking to the stairs.    
  
“Oh.” He relaxed. “Hey, Twoie.”   
  
“Hey.” He sighed, sitting on the edge of Steven’s bed. “... I wanted to… talk to you. About today.”   
  
“Oh?” Steven moved closer. “About what?”   
  
“Well.. about what you said. About trusting people and about changing their minds.”   
  
Steven frowned. “Yeah. Um. I’m sorry about all that.”   
  
“What?” Twoie looked over. “Sorry? Why? There’s-- there’s nothing to be sorry for. I wanted to help you work through those feelings. ‘Cause they’re important and.. Hard to think about alone.”   
  
“Oh.” Steven blinked. “O-okay..?”   
  
“So..” Twoie bit his lip, thumbing the end of his PJ shirt. “... Uh. Sorry. I’m not the best at this. If you want me to leave--”   
  
“No, it’s okay. I..” Steven sighed, scooting closer to him so they were side by side. “I was feeling kinda weird about it earlier. So.. this is good.”   
  
“Okay. Good.”   
  
“I just.. Don’t know how to feel about.. This. How to feel about a lot of stuff. Because a lot of stuff is going on and it’s really stressing me out.” Steven put his cheek in his hand, thumbing the end of his shirt. “Like Peridot.. And Yellow Diamond. And The Cluster. And about what you said before. I know I should trust people and.. Help them and stuff. But it’s hard.”   
  
“You don’t have to trust and help people, Steven.”   
  
“I do, though. If I didn’t, Lapis and Peridot would still be mean and.. And working for Homeworld. And they’d hate me.”   
  
“... Well, it’s good that you  _ did _ help them, but it’s not your.. Responsibility to. They’re grown gems, Steven. They can make their own choices. You're not the sole factor to Peridot’s change of attitude or Lapis being nice.”   
  
“I’m not?”   
  
“No. They had to decide for themselves whether or not they wanted to listen to you. Whether or not they wanted to like the Earth. Sure, you gave them a nudge and you helped them along, but in the end, that’s all you can do. Give them a good nudge in the right direction and hope for the best.”   
  
Steven hummed. “I feel like you’ve told me this before..”   
  
Twoie blushed. “Eh-he. Sorry. It’s just something that’s really hard to wrap your head around a-and took me a good bit in therapy. So.. I really wanna hammer it in there, y’know?”   
  
“Why? Did.. someone betray you?”   
  
“Um.” Twoie thought. “Yeah, people-- well, gems have. But that isn’t about betrayal, it’s about helping people. Trusting them. It’s… complicated.”   
  
“...” Steven sighed. “I guess. I dunno. I wanna take your advice but.. I don't feel right not helping.”   
  
“I never said you couldn’t help.”   
  
“But you did?”   
  
“I didn’t, Steven! Ugh. Okay.. hold on.. Um. Let me give you an example of what I mean: So.. uh.. There was this gem: … Citrine. Her name wasn’t actually Citrine, but I can’t risk you knowing too much about where she is and stuff. So.. 'Citrine' used to be mom’s friend. But mom did something bad to her and then Citrine, years later, came to the Earth to destroy it. It was peaceful at the time and I thought I wouldn’t have to deal with anymore bullshit for a while. But then she comes  _ speeding down _ on her stupid big  _ injector _ full of poison and starts to kill the Earth. She poofs all the gems, hurts me, and then is poofed.”   
  
“That sounds bad..” Steven whined. “I’m sorry that happened.”   
  
“It  _ was _ bad. It  _ sucked _ . I  _ just _ got done helping  _ so _ many people and now I gotta help  _ more _ ??” He laughed painfully. “Do I ever get a BREAK!?”   
  
Steven flinched.   
  
“Anyways,” Twoie continued. “I didn’t want to help her. I hated every second of convincing her not to kill everyone. It sucked. It messed me up and added to my already expansive trauma. And, y’know, in the end, we’re friends. Which is great! Because I don't have to fight her. But  _ now _ I feel like I  _ have _ to pretend to like her because if I don’t… she’ll revert and destroy everything again.” 

He sighed. 

“That’s how I feel around a lot of my ‘friends’, actually. All the friends that tried to kill me but are cool now. I just can’t be comfortable around them because I feel like they’re gonna break. It’s the same with the gems, too, I.. I can’t truly be  _ myself _ around them. And, y’know, I’m  _ working on it _ but it’s still hard to get out of that paranoia that they’re gonna revert and kill me.”

He paused, looking down at his hands. Steven looked down at them, too, then up at Rose’s portrait, then back at Twoie.   
  
“I just don’t want you to feel that way.” Twoie whispered, eyes clouded over with memories. “I.. I don’t want you to feel like you’re responsible for other people’s feelings. I don’t want you to think that.. If you tell Pearl, Garnet, and Amethyst how you feel that they’ll break down and you have to pick up the pieces. That it’s _your_ responsibility to keep everyone in line. And if they feel bad, it’s your fault.”

Steven looked down at the floorboards, shadowed from the absence of daylight. He shifted on his bed. He felt numb and cold.

“... So.” Steven sighed. “Basically, I.. I shouldn’t.. Feel bad about.. Feeling bad?”   
  
“That’s a part of it, yes.. But.. that’s not the main part.”   
  
“Then.. ugh, I’m sorry. It’s hard to--”   
  
“I know.” Twoie chuckled sadly. “It’s so hard to wrap your head around when you’ve been doing it your whole life. To summarize: how other people feel isn’t your responsibility. And fixing them when they’re down isn’t either.”

“So I should’ve just let Peridot.. Figure it out on her own?”   
  
“That’s what I’m getting at. But.. sometimes, you don’t have a choice.”   
  
“I don't?”   
  
“No. Sadly, most of the time, you gotta help people in order to get them to not fight you. It’ll suck and hurt and.. And..” He bit his lip. “You don’t wanna do it. But with people like Peridot, Jasper, Bismuth, the Diamonds.. You just have to give it your all to prevent destruction.”   
  
“... but that goes against what you just said.”   
  
Twoie slumped down, eyes hollow. “I.. I know.” He shut them, tears prickling. “I _know_. But when they’re your  _ friends _ , Steven. Then you can stop. Then you can stop feeling responsible.”   
  
“So when they’re trying to kill me I gotta do everything I can.. But when they’re nice, I can stop.. Uh.. trying? And just.. Let them feel however?”   
  
“Yes.”   
  
“Oh.”   
  
Twoie wiped his eyes and turned away. He got up. “I’m.. uh.”   
  
He looked through the ground into space.   
  
“Goodnight.”   
  
Steven watched as he made his way downstairs. He frowned and got up.   
  
“Twoie?”   
  
“Yes?”   
  
“Are you feeling alright?”   
  
“No. But you don’t have to help me. You shouldn’t, actually. You should go to bed.”   
  
“What?? But now I  _ have _ to help you!”   
  
“What’d we just talk about, Steven?”

Steven whined. “Oh, right.”   
  
Twoie sat down on the couch. Steven went down the stairs and looked at him.   
  
“... Well, if it’s a choice, then I wanna help.”   
  
Twoie sighed. “No, you don’t.. You just feel like you  _ need _ to help.”

“No, I don’t! I genuinely want to help you feel better!”

“Because you feel like if you don’t, I’ll hate you, and my sadness will be your fault.”   
  
Steven paled. He wasn’t thinking like that...

Was he?

Twoie smiled weakly. “I know how you’re thinking, Steven. It isn’t healthy. I’ll still like you even when I’m mad or sad and this--” he gestured to himself. “-- isn’t your fault. I made myself sad. So just go to bed. This isn’t your problem.”   
  
“I still want to help.”   
  
“No, Steven. You don’t.”   
  
“But I do!”   
  
“What did we  _ just _ fucking talk about, Steven.”   
  
“About choice.” Steven said, stepping closer, determined. “About my choice to help people. That I don’t  _ have _ to do it. That I don’t have to feel responsible for other’s feelings.”   
  
“Exactly.”   
  
“And, well..” Steven bit his lip. “I still wanna help. Because you’re my friend and I want you to be happy!”   
  
“I’ll sleep it off, Steven! I know this is hard to grasp, but just--”   
  
“Let me help!”   
  
“No!” Twoie got up. “If you won’t listen to your own needs I’m gonna go and make you!” He walked to the warp pad. Steven’s eyes widened.

“Twoie! No! I am listening! I want to help!”   
  
“You don’t! And that’s FINE, Steven! You’re not a bad person for not wanting to deal with this shit! I wouldn’t either!”   
  
He stepped onto the warp.   
  
“Just go to bed like you want. I’ll feel better in the morning.”   
  
He warped away.   
  
Steven stared at the warp pad.

Did he really not want to help? Was he just tricking himself into wanting to help Twoie?   
  
He sat down on the wood floor.   
  
“What  _ do  _ I want?”   
  
He wanted Twoie to be happy. But why? 

Because Twoie is his friend. He likes his friends. He likes making people feel good.

But... he wants to sleep, too...   
  
He looked up at his bed.   
  
He wanted to sleep.   
  
So should he just go to bed?   
  
But he also wanted to help Twoie. But.. he didn’t want it to take all night, even if that sounded selfish.. But maybe it wasn’t selfish? ‘Cause Twoie said he could go to bed.. He’d be fine..

Steven sighed and got up.   
  
“Well..” He thought aloud. “I’ll give it a try. It might not work, but I can still.. Can still do something. Even if it’s small.”

He went to the warp pad and followed Twoie. He landed in a place he didn’t recognize. He was surrounded by green, luscious, grass, swaying in the wind with flowers dotting it’s expanse. The yellow sunlight glowed from beside him, stretching out over the smooth ocean waters, reflecting the pinks and purples of the sky. Steven took a deep breath. It smelled like roses and rain… How pretty.

“Twoie?” He called. “Twoie!! I- I know you said I didn’t wanna help, but I still wanna try! Remember at the motel? When you told me that, even if I couldn’t help fully, it wasn’t bad to just try? Well, I’m doing that now! Let me cheer you up before bed!!”   
  
No response.

Steven sighed and stepped off the warp.    
  
“TWOIE!!”   
  
“Oh my god.” Twoie groaned. Steven looked around, spotting a place where the grass was squashed down in the distance. 

“Please, just be quieter.”   
  
Steven blushed. “Sorry.”   
  
He walked over to the spot, looking down at Twoie laying in the grass. Steven laid down beside him, glancing up at the sky and the flowers.   
  
“This is a pretty place.”   
  
“It is.”

“So.. what is this place?”

“Dunno. I come here when I just wanna be alone or.. Just to relax. It’s nice.”   
  
“It is.. Do you mind if  _ I _ come here sometimes?”   
  
“Nope. But if I'm here, you aren’t allowed in.”   
  
“Awe. Well, then, If I'm here, you can’t come in either.”   
  
“Fair enough.”

Steven shifted in his spot, releasing a flower from under him and scooting closer to Twoie.   
  
“So.. what’s up? Why’re you sad?”   
  
“I’ve realized I can’t really prevent you from becoming like me.” Twoie said, shutting his eyes. “If you don’t hurt yourself helping others, things won’t turn out the way they did. And things turned out pretty okay, everything considered. The Earth is safe, nobody is trying to kill me anymore.. But that’s all because I suffered. But I don't want  _ you _ to suffer.”   
  
He put his hands over his face and sighed.   
  
“I just wish there was a way for you to turn out okay and also have all the problems be fixed.”   
  
Steven looked up from him and towards the clouds, watching them roll by.   
  
“You don’t have to come up with an answer, by the way.” Twoie said. “You can just.. Listen.”

“I’ll think about what I can do.”   
  
“But--”   
  
“Not to fix you.” Steven asserted. “But to make sure we turn out okay. If you’re gonna be erased from existence, I wanna make sure it’s at least.. Leaving something good behind. I’ll take better care of myself and.. Listen to your advice and.. All that. I want to be happy, too. For you and myself.”   
  
Twoie stared at him, eyes sparkling.

Steven rolled over and hugged him, resting his cheek against his chest and listening to his heartbeat.   
  
“We’ll turn out okay.”   
  
Twoie’s eyes filled with tears. He blinked a few times and then whined, crying. He held Steven back, crying and giggling.   
  
Steven smiled, too, and nuzzled him.    
  
“Oh, oh, Steven..” Twoie choked out. “T-thank you.. Thank you.. I’m.. so happy that.. That maybe you’re not- not doomed too..” He wiped his eyes. “Oh, man.”   
  
Steven squeezed him tighter and giggled.   
  
“Yeah. We’ll both turn out happy. Everything will be okay and you.. You.. you did a good job. You’re  _ doing  _ a  _ good  _ job.”

Twoie laughed and wiped his eyes. “Thank you. You’re the best.”   
  
“Nuh- uh. You’re the best!”   
  
“Oh, don’t you start.” Twoie ruffled his hair. Steven blew a raspberry at him. They laughed.   
  
“So.. do  _ you  _ have anything  _ you  _ wanna talk about?”

Steven thought.   
  
“Yeah. But.. I’m tired. It can wait.”   
  
“Okay.” Twoie got up. “Let’s go to bed.”   
  
“Yeah!”   
  
They walked back to the warp and went back home. Steven went upstairs as Twoie laid down on the couch. Steven looked over the edge of his bedroom and dropped MC Bear Bear onto Twoie. Twoie flinched and grabbed it, then relaxed and gave Steven a smile. Steven smiled back, heart light.    
  
“Go to sleep, you goof.” Twoie mumbled affectionately.    
  
“Goodnight to you, too.” Steven chuckled, walking back to his bed and going to sleep. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Leave a comment if you enjoyed!!


	14. Super Watermelon Island

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Obsidian and Malachite fight

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> our first compilation episode! This means that only parts where Twoie is affecting stuff will be included. Things that are in the episode that are untouched by him will not be.

Steven fell asleep, placing his consciousness inside a watermelon Steven. He woke up in the middle of their civilization and immediately rushed to the cliff side.

The gems and Twoie were on the beach, glaring at Malachite as she struggled against her water chains. 

Garnet crossed her arms and said something to the group that Steven couldn’t hear. They all nodded and backed up, forming a square. They all began to dance inwards towards each other. Amethyst swiveled in, Pearl twirled, Garnet kept the rhythm with snapping, and Twoie did a flashy, quick, dance. They came together and fused, light growing much larger than Malachite into an eight armed woman, with dark skin and lava flowing through her veins.

Steven gulped. Whoa.

“Give up!” Malachite growled, snapping her chains. She panted, bringing up her hand and gripping her wrist. “I’m impressed…” She said to herself. “You really held out.”

Obsidian roared, lava pouring out of her top mouth and down her face like warpaint. Malachite jumped, looking back at Obsidian.

“They’re here! Ugh..  _ Pathetic.”  _ She snarled to herself/Lapis. “Don’t you see? We’ve been holding us back for too long! And for what? If we’re going to be this thing together, why don’t we have some fun?”

Obsidian grunted at them and held out her hand in a gesture of peace.   
  
Malachite stared at them and then chuckled.   
  
“Don’t hold your breath. I’m not gonna give up that easily.”   
  
They raised two giant water fists from the ocean, grinning.   
  
Obsidian roared and rushed forward, her lava burning into the water and making her legs sharper. 

Malachite hurled a fist at them, they dodged and spat lava into her face, burning one of her eyes.   
  
“OW!”   


Obsidian lurched for her. Malachite ducked under the water and came up a few feet away, rising slowly and sharpening her water droplets into icy daggers. She shot them at Obsidian, who blasted them away with her lava and then pulled out Opal’s bow. She shot at Malachite. She raised an ice wall. 

Obsidian pulled out Smoky’s yo-yo and reeled back, hurtling it at the ice wall. It broke into a thousand shards, but Malachite flew into the air too quickly. She smirked and spin dashed at them, slamming into Obsidian with Jasper’s helmet. Obsidian yelped, the water coming up around her and hardening her form.    
  
Steven ran off to one of the crystal coves. Obsidian was out of her depth, she might need some help…   


**\----------**

Malachite slammed Obsidian into the cliff side, pinning two sets of arms down.    
  
“Y’know, you’re right!” She cackled, punching her in the face. “There really is something more to this fusion thing! It’s not just a cheap TRICK--”   
  
She threw Obsidian out to the ocean by the legs, wincing afterwards and shaking her hands of burns. Obsidian got up, her whole body jagged like rock. She wavered for a moment, then formed back together and smirked at Malachite. 

Malachite stepped into the water. Obsidian lunged at her but she was too quick, trapping Obsidian in two giant watery hands. Steam floated up from Obsidian as she cried out in pain.   
  
“You’ve really shown me a whole new WORLD of possibilities, y’know! Allow me to THANK YOU!”   
  
She squeezed Obsidian tighter, digging water into her lava veins and extinguishing them. 

“Sorry! But there’s only room for one abomination on this measly planet!” She laughed maniacally, turning her hands into claws.   
  
A war horn sounded from behind her.    
  
“Huh?”   
  
Steven rushed out with his army of watermelon Stevens, blowing into a conch. He ordered them to attack. Quickly, they began to crawl up Malachite’s lower arms. 

Malachite chuckled, looking at them in amusement. Steven blew his conch again and the catapults launched bounders into her face. She turned, smile gone, and grunted as one hit her in the eye. Divers came in from the skies and landed on her face, punching her eyes. She stepped backwards, losing focus of the arms and tripping over a rope that the Steven’s set up. 

Obsidian broke free, foaming lava at the mouth and snarling rabidly. She roared, cracking the jaggedness on her face and neck. She lunged forward.   
  
Malachite got up and smashed a few watermelon Stevens. She opened her mouth to speak but was cut off by Obsidian grabbing her and throwing her away from the beach. Obsidian roared and pounced on her, opening her mouth and letting lava pour onto her face and Jasper’s gem.   
  
“STOP IT! STOP-- OW!!” Malachite cried, thrashing. Obsidian dug her claws into her side and scraped, then opened her main mouth, jagged teeth like a sharks coming down. Malachite slammed her fist into Obsidian’s mouth before she could bite, sending her back into the water. 

She flew off into the sky, frantically rubbing at her eyes. “Agh!! I can’t-- see!”   
  
Obsidian stood and chuckled, summoning Opal’s bow. She drew back, focusing all four eyes on Malachite.   
  
Malachite scraped some molten rock off of her face and gasped, seeing Obsidian ready to fire.   
  
Obsidian released, sending an arrow of light directly towards Malachite. The arrow mid flight split into the figures of Amethyst, Pearl, Garnet, and Twoie, all holding hands in a circle that reformed back into a point and shot directly through Malachite. 

Malachite slowly inflated, body turning to light before poofing in a giant, green, cloud.   
  
Steven and the watermelon Stevens cheered as Jasper and Lapis fell from the sky. Obsidian caught them in her hands. She walked back to the beach and fell on her knees, groaning then unfusing. 

Pearl, Garnet, Twoie, and Amethyst landed on the ground. Pearl shakily got up, chuckling. Garnet glanced at her. Amethyst and Twoie groaned. Garnet set a hand on Amethyst.    
  
“I’m alive…” She said, giving a thumbs up. 

“I’m not.” Twoie groaned.

Steven ran over to Pearl, enveloping her in a hug. 

“Steven?” She asked. “Is that you in there?”   
  
Steven nodded.   
  
Garnet smiled. “Thank you. We couldn’t have done it without your help.”   
  
“Good job, melon head.” Amethyst chimed in.   
  
“Hell yeaaaahhhh Steven. Woo~” Twoie said.

Garnet stood, addressing the army of watermelon Stevens.   
  
“Thank you. All of you. You are truly brave.”

The watermelon Steven’s blushed and waved their hands, as if saying ‘aw, shucks, don’t worry about it.’

Garnet, Amethyst, Twoie, Steven and Pearl all laughed. The Stevens joined in a second later. 

The ground began to shake and split apart, throwing the piece of land they were on at an angle. Amethyst grabbed Lapis, but Jasper fell into one of the cracks. Steven gasped, holding onto Garnet’s leg.   
  
“It must be the Cluster! Peridot was right.” Garnet said. “Steven, it’s up to you! The warp was destroyed, we won’t make it back in time!”   
  
Steven whimpered, shaking his head. He was so scared,  _ so scared _ , he didn’t wanna do this…

“Wake up! Get Peridot and start drilling!” She leaned down and held his face. “The Earth needs you, Steven. We’ll be  _ fine _ . You can do this. We believe in you.”   
  
Amethyst, Pearl, and Twoie came into view.   
  
Steven looked to him and then back to the gems. He nodded. He could do this. 

His vision started to fade.   
  
“You got this, dude!” Amethyst said. “You know the drill!”   
  
“Be careful, Steven. Watch each other's backs.” Said Pearl.   
  
“It’s okay to be afraid, Steven.” Said Twoie. “Believe in yourself.”

“And, Steven,” Garnet said. “We love you.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it's so short! Please leave a comment if you enjoyed!


	15. Cluster Aftermath/A Single Pale Rose

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Pearl and Twoie reveal something to Steven, and Steven isn't sure how to respond.

Steven warped into the house, sighing. He still had Lapis on his mind. They just rescued her, just got her back and.. Now she was gone again. He wanted to know more about her, spend more time.. But she just flew off again tonight. Like always.

He walked towards the main room before stopping, staring at Pearl and Twoie sitting on the couch. Pearl looked determined and anxious, Twoie looked fearful. Steven gulped.   
  
“Um.. hey? What’s uh.. Going on?”   
  
“Steven,” Pearl began. “There’s something I’ve been meaning to tell you for a long time. Twoie already revealed some of it to you--”   
  
Twoie groaned, holding his stomach and looking away.   
  
“-- and so I think now is the time you should know. Come sit down.”    
  
She patted the seat in between them.   
  
Steven shuddered, a chill going up his spine. He slowly walked over and sat.   
  
“Is.. is this.. Something.. Bad?”   
  
“No, not really.”    
  
Pearl hummed.    
  
“Well.. maybe. Maybe. I-- I don’t know. I just  _ need _ to tell you this.”

“Okay..?”    
  
Pearl breathed in and exhaled deeply, her shoulders relaxing.   
  
“Rose Quartz, your mother, was Pink Diamond.”   
  
Steven blinked.   
  
“...”

He furrowed his brows and looked at Twoie. Twoie was staring at him in anticipation, chewing his lip. He looked back to Pearl. She also looked like she was expecting something.   
  
“Um. Okay.” Steven said, shrugging.   
  
_ “‘Okay!?’”  _ Pearl gasped. “Wh-- what!?? She-- how can you JUST think that’s ‘okay’!?”

Steven shrugged again, more tense. “I-- I dunno! I…” He thought. “Um.. I guess that just means she.. Had a secret identity? But why would she have a secret identity?? And.. that she didn’t shatter her? And.. and.. Uh..” He frowned and looked at Twoie. “Didn’t you say she was a jerk? Does.. that mean you think Mom’s a jerk?”   
  
Twoie sighed heavily, groaning. “No.. I dunno..”   
  
Pearl frowned. “Um.. oh.. Stars, you don’t know.. Oh my.” She placed a hand on her cheek then over her mouth, thinking. “Hm…”   
  
Steven looked down, twiddling his thumbs. “Does.. This mean that.. Mom was bad?”   
  
“Of course not!” Pearl said. “I never said she was bad.”   
  
“But Pink was bad..?”   
  
“She wasn’t!”

“Twoie said she was.”   
  
Pearl glared at Twoie. “Twoie! That’s your mother you’re speaking about!”   
  
“Pink wasn’t my mom. Rose was. Screw Pink.”   
  
“Pink is still your mother.”   
  
“Hardly. Just..” He pinched his brows. “I don’t wanna talk about that right now.. Steven, do you know what this means?”   
  
“No. Um.. sorry. I wish I did…”   
  
“That’s what I thought.” Twoie sat up, leaning his head back and gazing upwards tensely. “Pearl.. He doesn’t have any context for this.”   
  
Pearl sighed. “I suppose you’re right.. Steven, listen to me.”   
  
“Okay.” Steven turned to her.   
  
“Pink Diamond was Rose Quartz, your mother. She became Rose Quartz after visiting the Earth colony and.. Realizing she was destroying it. She tried to change it, she really did, but Blue and Yellow didn’t listen to her. So.. she made a stand. As Rose. Then she gave up her status to protect the Earth. That’s.. That’s what this means. It means that the very gem we were fighting against was actually your mother!”   
  
Steven blinked. The words registered in his head, and he understood somewhat of what she was saying. But there was a lot of jargon in her speech. ‘Earth Colony’?, ‘Blue and Yellow’?, ‘Status’? What was her status? Diamonds were in charge, he supposed.. But he didn’t really grasp why they were so freaked out. He guessed he should be shocked, but he wasn’t.   
  
“I.. still don’t really.. Understand. I’m sorry, Pearl.”   
  
Pearl whined and buried her face in her hands. “Goshdarnit.”

Twoie looked over at her. “.... Pearl, I don’t want to take this away from you.. But maybe  _ I  _ could put it in human terms? Or, well, explain it simply?” 

Pearl sighed. “Mm.. sure. But I want to do most of it. I’ve been waiting for.. About 6,650 years to tell the others and 14 to tell him.”

Twoie nodded. “I’ll just.. Clarify. Just-- gimme a second.”   
  
Twoie stood up on the couch and grabbed a stuffed animal that was hanging from the bedroom ledge. He held it close and sat back down, shutting his eyes tightly and breathing slow.   
  
Steven frowned. “Twoie..? Are you alright?”   
  
“No, I’m not.” Twoie shook his head. “This whole thing sucks. Everything sucks and I hate it. I have  _ no idea _ what’s going to happen now. It-- it was a  _ miracle _ things worked out the way they did and now… it’s all being screwed up!”   
  
Pearl huffed. “Well, you gave me the right to tell him, so I am.”   
  
“I know.” Twoie groaned. “I just wish I never came here. That I never  _ meddled _ with the past.”   
  
He sighed sharply and thrust his arm out in exasperation. “But! I can’t do anything about it now! Steven knows and I gotta explain it!”   
  
Steven spoke. “You don’t.. Have to--”

“I do.” Twoie said. He turned completely towards Steven and tucked the stuffed animal between his folded up legs and his chest, freeing his arms to gesture.

“So.. Do you know who the Diamonds are?”   
  
“Um..” Steven thought. “They’re.. In charge. And 'perfect'. And you hate them… because they’re mean?”   
  
“Uh.” Twoie furrowed his brows. “You’re.. Kinda right? But, objectively, the Diamonds are the leaders of Homeworld.”   
  
Steven raised his hand.   
  
Twoie sighed. “You don’t have to do that, we’re not in school.”   
  
“Oh. Okay. Um… What’s Homeworld?”

“The planet where gems live and come from. Like Pearl, Peridot, Lapis, Jasper, and Garnet.”   
  
“Oohh..” 

“Yes, so.. They are the rulers over  _ all _ gems.”   
  
“And mom was a ruler..?”    
  
“Yes.” Pearl interjected. “She was.”   
  
Twoie nodded. “Yes. So.. there are- were- four diamonds. White: the highest authority, Yellow and Blue, the second highest authorities, and Pink.. your mother. Who was the lowest authority.”   
  
“Why was she the lowest?”   
  
“Uh..” Twoie looked to Pearl.

“Because she was the youngest and smallest.” Pearl said. “At least, I think so.” She placed a finger on his chin. “Though, I don't know why she was so small.. I suppose it could've been because Homeworld's resources were dwindling…"   
  
“Maybe.. It was because she didn’t own anything!” Twoie said. “Because she was so young..?”   
  
“Maybe.” Pearl said.   
  
“Anyways.” Twoie said, shaking his head. “The Diamonds ruled over all. But Pink owned no planets, so the other Diamonds didn’t respect her.. So she wanted a colony! Which is a planet that she would own and destroy, like what you saw on the Moon base.”   
  
Steven shuddered. “Mom was gonna do that..? Why would she wanna hurt the Earth like that??”   
  
“She didn’t know at the time.” Pearl said. “She thought the Earth had no life and was desolate.. Empty. All she wanted was respect from the other Diamonds.”   
  
Twoie nodded. “Yes. So.. eventually, she got it.  _ And… _ a new pearl.” He gestured to Pearl. Pearl blushed and chuckled.

“Yes.. yes.. She got me.”   
  
“‘Got you’?” Steven asked.

“Remember how Peridot said I was a servant? I was your mother’s servant.”   
  
“Ohh!” Steven nodded. “I think I’m starting to get it now.. So.. wait, why did she become Rose?”   
  
“Well..” Twoie said, looking up in thought for a moment. “She saw the Earth and wanted to go to it. But she couldn’t, because she was a Diamond and.. I guess it would’ve been dangerous?” He glanced up to Pearl. Pearl nodded. Twoie smiled. “Yeah. So then Pearl suggested she disguised herself. So then Rose Quartz was made!”   
  
Steven furrowed his brow, thinking. “So.. she became Rose just to.. Have some fun and go sightseeing?”   
  
“Well, it started that way..” Pearl said. “But soon, she discovered the Earth was  _ teeming _ with life! She fell in love with it… We wandered around, seeing Earth just as humanity was beginning to evolve. So much organic, untouched, beauty.. And the stars in her eyes..” Pearl sighed wistfully. “I can remember it as if it were yesterday..”   
  
Twoie snorted. 

Pearl glanced over. “What??”   
  
Twoie waved her off. “Nothing, nothing.. So.. yeah, Rose realized she was hurting the Earth so she went back to Homeworld as Pink Diamond to try and stop the colonization of Earth.. But nobody listened to her. Blue and Yellow didn’t.. Respect her. They didn’t care.”   
  
“So she decided to make a stand. As someone they couldn’t ignore.” Pearl finished.

Twoie nodded and looked down at Steven for his reaction. Steven looked away from him, down to the wood floor. Suddenly, he was keenly aware of his body. Of his gem embedded in his body. He thought it was like Amethyst’s, but now that he knows it a Diamond, he can feel it pointing inwards. He gripped his shirt and breathed out. 

He still didn’t understand why it was wrong. It was very shocking, but why was her being Pink… bad? Was it bad? What did this mean?   
  
He looked up at Rose’s portrait.   
  
It clicked.   
  
“So.. she lied to everyone?”   
  
“She had to.” Pearl said. “If she didn’t, she would’ve been compromised. We could’ve lost valuable comrades and.. Lost the war. So she kept it a secret.”   
  
“But… lying is wrong.”   
  
Pearl smiled sadly. “Maybe. But.. she had to, Steven. You must understand: all she wanted was to protect the Earth..”   
  
She held his hand, removing it from his shirt.   
  
“And it’s inhabitants.”

Steven smiled weakly and climbed into her lap, hugging her. Pearl smiled and hugged him back.   
  
Twoie looked down and held his stuffed animal.

Steven exhaled deeply and leaned back after a moment. “So.. so what about the shattering? The war?”   
  
“Well..” Pearl started. “I..”   
  
She gulped.   
  
“Uh..”    
  
She started to breath heavily. “I.. oh, stars.. I don’t really..” She bit her lip.   
  
“Is it too painful to speak about?” Twoie supplied. Pearl nodded.   
  
“I can tell him, if you want.”   
  
“Yes, please. I’m sorry. It’s so deep in my mind..”   
  
“I understand.” Twoie said. “Steven--”   
  
Steven shifted off of Pearl and over to Twoie, looking up at him. Twoie smiled and pat his head.    
  
“So...” He began. “I think Rose wasn’t making as big of an impact as she wanted, so she decided to ‘shatter’ Pink as a statement. And to never go back to her old life."   
  
He glanced up to Pearl. Pearl nodded in agreement. He looked back down.

“So she confided in Pearl to pretend to be Rose and ‘shatter’ her. She…” He paused, breathing out slowly to calm himself. Steven held his hand. Twoie chuckled weakly.   
  
“She… stepped out of her palanquin-- er-- which is her transport-- and then Pearl shapeshifted to look like Rose and ‘shattered’ her. It was fake, of course, and they ran off afterwards. Pink then reformed to be Rose all the time. Before all that, though, she ordered Pearl to never speak about the shattering. Or any of this. Which is why she couldn’t tell you before. But because I knew and you know, she can speak about it.”   
  
Steven nodded. “I see.. Huh.. that’s..”   
  
He leaned into Twoie. Twoie held him. 

Steven sighed and shut his eyes. “... I don't know what to say..”   
  
“You don’t have to say anything, Steven..” Pearl said, coming over and placing a hand on his back. “I know it’s a lot to process.”   
  
Steven looked up at her and opened his arms up. Pearl smiled and joined in on the hug. Steven relaxed, feeling comforted to be hugged on both sides. 

He glanced up at Rose’s portrait and then looked away immediately, feeling tense around it now. He used to look up to his mother.. And he supposed he still did, because being Pink Diamond wasn’t the  _ worst _ thing ever.. It just meant she lied and  _ almost _ did some bad stuff… right?   
  
“Wait… so why was Pink a jerk?” He looked up at Twoie. 

Pearl narrowed her eyes at Twoie. “ _ Yes _ .. why was she?”   
  
Twoie sighed. “There are some things both of you don't know about her that I can’t tell you..”   
  
“What??” Pearl sputtered. “Things  _ I  _ don’t know??” She laughed. “That-- she told me EVERYTHING. Steven. Everything.”   
  
Twoie shook his head. “Not everything, Pearl, I’m sorry. Pink Diamond did some horrible stuff… very horrible stuff.” He sighed. “But… Y’know, just because Pink was a jerk doesn’t mean Rose was.”   
  
Pearl grit her teeth. “Tell me what you know.”   
  
“Can’t.”   
  
“You can! You just won’t!”   
  
“Fine. Then I won’t.” Twoie deadpanned. “There’s nothing we can do about it anyways.. And the one problem we could fix could ruin  _ everything _ . If I tell you, I’m putting the Earth in jeopardy.”   
  
“Twoie! You can tell me!” 

“I sure can.” Twoie huffed. “But I’m not gonna. Just stop, Pearl. You’ll find out in a few years.”   
  
Pearl got up and clenched her fists.    
  
Steven gulped and got up, too. “Pearl, please… don’t be mad.”   
  
Twoie sighed. “Pearl.. Please. It’s nothing against you. I just can’t afford to ruin this.. This gem is very dangerous. She nearly killed me.”   
  
Pearl paled. “Nearly killed you?”   
  
“Yes. If she attacks Steven I’m sure he’ll die.”   
  
Steven paled. “... uh- B-but you survived!”   
  
“I have better control of my powers, Steven. You’re still very good at defending yourself, but you’re.. You can’t beat her. I’m sorry, I can’t tell you.”   
  
Pearl looked down at Steven and put a hand on his head. 

“...  _ Fine _ .” 

She leaned down and hugged Steven. 

“I don’t want to put Steven in danger.”   
  
Twoie scoffed to himself. “Mm. Yeah.”   
  
Pearl got up. “Well… I’m off to tell the others.   
  
“I dunno if you should.” Twoie sat up. “They won’t take it well. It’ll take about three days to a week to fix. And there’s already a lot going on.”   
  
“We  _ just _ got finished with the cluster! What  _ else _ is there?”   
  
“Lapis Lazuli, Jasper… maybe some Rubies soon?” Twoie hummed. “And the actual event afterwards takes about a week to plan. So…” He stood and smiled sympathetically at her. “I’m sorry, Pearl. You can tell them if you want, of course, I just… don’t think it would be wise.”   
  
Pearl put a finger to her chin, thinking.   
  
“... I’ll.. Think about it.”   
  
Twoie smiled and gave her a thumbs up.    
  
Pearl pat Twoie’s shoulder and then ruffled Steven’s hair.    
  
“Goodnight, you two.”

“Goodnight.” Twoie repeated.    
  
“Goodnight.” Steven mumbled.

Pearl walked into her room, the door shutting behind her.   
  
Steven sat down on the floor and buried his face in his hands. Twoie knelt down and placed a hand on his back.    
  
“Hey, buddy, you doing okay?”

“I don’t know.” He mumbled. “My feelings towards mom were already so complicated and now they’re worse…”

Twoie sighed and chuckled humorlessly. “Yeah, I know how  _ that _ feels.”   
  
Steven looked up at him, eyes tired and weary. He leaned against him and then glanced up at Rose’s portrait.   
  
“... Was mom a good person?”   
  
Twoie bit his lip contemplatively and placed his hand in Steven’s hair, lazily playing with it. “Well.. I don’t know. I never knew her.”   
  
“But you never knew Pink either..”   
  
“I guess not.. But.. I dunno. My feelings towards her are still complex. Pink Diamond wasn’t a good person, but she was only that way because she had nothing else to look up to. She was  _ taught _ to be mean, she didn’t know she was.. Actually bad. And when she found out, she immediately tried to fix it. Which, I guess, in that case, makes her good. But she also did so much bad stuff that I’m not sure.. It all depends on if we judge her character, her motivations, or her actions.”

Steven sat up, looking down at the wood floor between his legs and at his stomach.    
  
Twoie clicked his tongue. “I’m sorry, Steven. She was a complex person, like everyone else. She did some bad things, she did some good.. But I can say for certain that she  _ tried _ . She tried to be a good person and grew every day. Especially as Rose Quartz. It’s up to you to really figure out if.. You think she’s bad or good.”   
  
“... What do  _ you _ think?”   
  
“I don’t know. I used to hate her. But I don’t think that’s fair anymore.”   
  
“Was she bad or good?”   
  
“The world isn’t like that--”   
  
“I know. But--”   
  
“Steven.” Twoie put a hand on his leg. “She was complicated. Neither fully bad or good. But..” He looked up and thought. “I do think she.. She improved. So she definitely wasn’t  _ evil _ . But she also wasn’t perfect.”

Steven grit his teeth. “Just give me a  _ yes _ or  _ no. _ ” 

“Steven, I’ve already told you--”   
  
“Just  _ tell me _ !” He yelled, glaring at Twoie. His eyes were filled with tears he refused to let fall. He gripped his shirt and choked out a sob. “I n-need to know! I need to know if she.. If she was good.. Was my mom.. A good person? Please…”   
  
Twoie frowned. “Oh, Steven…” He opened up his arms. “C’mere.."   
  
Steven hugged him and buried his face in his shoulder, shutting his eyes so he didn’t have to see her face.   
  
“I just..” Steven sniffled. “Mom was supposed to be.. Kind and loving.. And..”   
  
He sighed deeply, wiping his eyes.   
  
“... I don’t know why I’m so worked up about this.. Sorry.”   
  
“No, no, It’s okay.” Twoie said. “I felt the same way.”   
  
“You did?”   
  
“Well.. not exactly. At the time, I knew more about mom.. I knew she wasn’t the best when I was told she was Pink. And I also thought she  _ shattered _ Pink. So my thought process was kinda different, but.. I think I know why you’re feeling this way.”   
  
“Why’s that..?”   
  
“You-  _ we- _ never knew your-  _ our- _ mother. We only get to know her through little things everyone  _ else  _ says. And just when you think you finally figured it out.. When you thought you finally  _ got it _ .. Suddenly, everything’s wrong! She wasn’t a ‘kind and benevolent protector’, she was actually Pink Diamond! But, oh, wait! No, she was still good! Or bad? Or good and bad??”   
  
He groaned loudly.   
  
“It  _ sucks _ ! Because you finally have an opinion and now it changes. Your role model actually isn’t the perfect person you thought she was and now you gotta get to know this person you’ve never met all over again.”   
  
Steven smiled bitterly and pressed himself deeper into Twoie’s hug.   
  
“Yeah, that’s pretty much it.”   
  
Twoie nodded. “Yeah.”   
  
“I wish I could meet her.”   
  
“Mm.”

Steven squeezed Twoie tight then let go.    
  
“... I..” He clicked his tongue, finding it increasingly impossible to speak with ease. “So.. I can’t tell anyone else?”   
  
“Not until we figure out the consequences.”   
  
“Okay, cool.” Steven nodded. “I’m... gonna go to bed.”   
  
“Uh- Alright.” Twoie said, slightly startled by the sudden change. He got up. “Me too. And, you know, you can always come to me if you wanna talk about your feelings. About mom.. About all of this.”   
  
“Okay, thank you.”   
  
Twoie gave him a knowing, sad, look, and nodded. “Okay. Goodnight.”   
  
“Goodnight.”

Steven went upstairs and sat down on his bed. He looked up and caught her gaze.   
  
“...”   
  
He shuddered and turned away. He didn’t wanna look at her anymore.

“...”   
  
He groaned. He was  _ such _ a kid…

“Hey, Twoie?”   
  
“Yeah?” Twoie called from downstairs.   
  
“Can you… sleep in my bed tonight? I know it’s really stupid and.. Childish and--”   
  
“No problem! I’ll be right up.”

Steven smiled to himself. At least he had Twoie to get him through this crazy mess.

He didn’t know how he would’ve managed without him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please leave a comment if you enjoyed!


	16. Too short to ride

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Peridot, Amethyst, Steven, and Twoie have a great time at Funland.

“Ta-da!” Steven grinned, gesturing his arms out. “Welcome to Funland!”   
  
Amethyst and Peridot looked up at the sign. Twoie put his hands in his jacket pockets, eyeing the coaster.   
  
“You’ve brought me to a sign!” Peridot said, looking up.

“Nah, nah.” Amethyst chuckled, pushing Peridot in. “You gotta go inside.”

They led her up the newest Funland coaster  _ “The Bulldog” _ . Peridot smiled.    
  
“Ah! A speed pattern transportation circuit!”

“And a rollercoaster!” Steven said.    
  
“You gotta do the most fun thing in Funland first.” Amethyst smiled.

Twoie nodded.

“Hmm. Bold. Let’s follow this logic!” Peridot said, pumping her fist as they all headed towards the coaster. Twoie immediately tried to get on. Mr. Smiley grinned aggressively and held out his arm like bar.   
  
“Whoa! Slow down there, kid! We got some new rules! Go and measure yourself!”   
  
“Aw, what??” Twoie huffed, going down to the height chart. “Man.. there’s no way you guys are gonna clear this.”   
  
“Oh, yeah?” Steven said. “I think I might be tall enough!”

He lined up and frowned. “Mm.. just a little short..”   
  
Amethyst did too, also too short. Peridot did, seemingly clearing it, but after her hair was squished down, she was actually the shortest one. She growled and threw a fit at Mr. Smiley.

Mr. Smiley laughed. “Sorry, guys! Looks like this squad has some growing to do before you can ride!”   
  
“I do  _ not _ have to grow.” Peridot huffed. “This height is indicative of my rarity and importance! I demand entry, you CLOD!!!”

Mr. Smiley grimaced. “You kids want another lifetime ban?”   
  
Twoie winced. “Nope! Sorry!”

Steven grabbed Peridot and ushered her away from Mr. Smiley. They stood off to the side, bummed.

“Well, that stinks.”

Steven sighed. “We’ll just have to maintain a healthy lifestyle in hopes we grow before the end of the season!”

Amethyst facepalmed. “Ugh! Of course. Let’s just  _ grow. _ ”

She shapeshifted herself in a tall looking teen, with a tied up white tee-shirt with rolled up sleeves, cuffed jeans, and a backwards black cap.    
  
“Nice outfit.” Twoie said.   
  
“Thanks.”   


Steven smiled and shapeshifted his legs longer.

Peridot looked between the three of them and strained, trying to shapeshift. Nothing happened. She sighed. “I.. I must be rusty. You three just go.”   
  
“No way, Peridot.” Twoie said. “We are  _ getting  _ you on that coaster!”

“How?? She’s too small!” Steven said. Peridot glared at him.   
  
“Yeah.. well..” Twoie hummed. “What if we snuck her on the ride?”   
  
“Twoie!!” Steven gasped. Amethyst cracked up and gave Twoie a friendly punch on the shoulder.   
  
“That’s my boy!”   
  
“No, no, that’s.. Against the rules!” Steven said. Twoie shrugged. “So? Who cares? Peridot won’t die. She’s a gem. Even if she flies off, the worst is that she’ll poof.”   
  
“I care!” Steven whined. Peridot frowned. “I’m gonna poof?”   
  
Twoie hummed, thinking. Amethyst groaned. “C’mon, Steven, rebel a little! You’re a teenager now, right? Fourteen? Be rebellious!”   
  
Steven huffed. 

Twoie looked over to Amethyst.   
  
“Amethyst, can you shapeshift  _ anything _ ?”   
  
“Uh, yeah.” She shapeshifted into a dog. “I’m real good at shapeshifting.”   
  
Peridot sighed.

Twoie grinned. “Good. Shapeshift back into tall you but.. Add a backpack.”   
  
“Ohh!!” Amethyst grinned, doing just that. “I like your style~”

“Great! Peridot, get in.”   
  
“Get in??” Peridot stared at the ‘backpack’. Amethyst knelt down so it was more accessible. Twoie nodded.    
  
“Yeah! Get in! Don’t you wanna ride the coaster! It’s really fun~”   
  
Peridot sighed and climbed in. “Fine.”   
  
Twoie zipped it up and looked to Steven. Steven walked over to Twoie and leaned against him. “I don’t know about breaking the rules.”   
  
“Mm.” Twoie frowned. “Sorry… I dunno.. Does it make you  _ that _ uncomfortable?”   
  
“I dunno.”   
  
“Mmm.. okay. Well, we already got the whole thing situated so..” He shrugged. Steven nodded. “Okay, sure. Just.. we won’t go to jail, right?”   
  
Twoie laughed. “Steven!! There are no  _ cops  _ in Beach City! Also, no, we won’t. This is just harmless rule-breaking. Let’s go!”   
  
They went to the coaster and were allowed on, once on, They shapeshifted back to their normal selves, save for Amethyst, and Peridot was tucked in next to Steven. 

The coaster took off. Amethyst and Steven screamed in delight, Twoie grinned and laughed, and Peridot held onto Steven for dear life. Steven put his arm around her and promised her she was safe before throwing his arms up again. Eventually, Peridot started laughing and screaming in joy. By the end, she looked like a happy mess.

“Again! Again!” She cheered.

They rode the coaster three more times before they decided it was enough. Everyone shapeshifted back to their normal selves, relieved. 

“That was so good!” Amethyst said. “You’re a genius, Twoie.”   
  
“Thanks! You’re the one who pulled it off, though.”   
  
They high fived.

“Okay, so, what next?” Steven asked. Amethyst looked around.

“There!” She pointed to the house of mirrors. They headed to the house and went inside. In the mirrors, Steven, Amethyst, and Twoie shapeshifted around to make themselves look normal in the mirrors but weird in real life. Peridot frowned.   
  
“This isn’t fun.”   
  
“Aw, don’t worry, Peridot.” Twoie said. “Just uh.. Go along and look in the mirrors! Then maybe you can try the maze!”   
  
“Maze? What’s ‘the maze’?”   
  
Amethyst grinned. “Oh, you’ll love it!”

She led Peridot over to the maze entrance and pushed her in.   
  
“Go! Try to find your way out!”   
  
“Umm..” Peridot looked around at the mirrors, staring at herself. “How?”   
  
“Here, I’ll help!” Steven said, walking forward. He turned left and went around the corner. Peridot followed behind him. They walked through the maze, Peridot becoming increasingly agitated as they kept twisting and turning. 

“That’s it!” Peridot exclaimed. “I’m need to get out!”   
  
She bolted down a hallway and misjudged how long it was, slamming into the mirror and falling down. Amethyst laughed and Twoie snickered, still coming over to help her up.    
  
“It’s okay.. The exit’s right there.”   
  
Steven helped lead Peridot out.   
  
“Finally.. Let’s do something that is NOT a maze.”   


“How about..” Twoie hummed, looking around. “OH!! OH! Peridot, you’re gonna love this!”   
  
He ran off towards a booth, the rest of the gems struggling to keep up with their short legs. They eventually came to a booth with a bottle toss and giant alien plush prizes. Peridot gasped.   
  
“Look at that being! It’s large head, swollen with thoughts..! Those  _ compassionate _ eyes.. It  _ understands.. _ I  _ must  _ have it.”

“Oh! That’s a prize!” Steven supplied. “You gotta win it first.”   
  
Steven dinged the bell at the front, waiting a few seconds before Mr. Smiley ran up and leaped over the counter to stand behind the booth. “Hey, there, Steven!”

“Mr. Smiley? You’re working the ring toss, too?” Steven asked, setting down some tickets. 

“Yeah.. you could say we’re a little ‘fun-derstaffed’!”   
  
Steven chuckled.   
  
“I’m glad you’re seeing the humour in it, Steven!  _ ‘Cause I haven’t seen a bed in six days!” _

Steven frowned. “Oh.” He chuckled nervously.

Peridot grabbed a ring and threw it across the booth, hitting the wall.   
  
“I win!”   
  
“No, no, you gotta land it on the milk bottles.” Twoie said, picking up a ring and gently tossing it. It landed on a bottle. He grinned. “Like that!”   
  
“Whoa! You’re good at this!” Amethyst said. “You do the tossing for us, big guy.”   
  
“Okay.” Twoie said, picking up another and tossing it. He missed. He frowned and did another. He missed again. He groaned. “Beginner’s luck..”

They all wildly tossed rings at the bottles, missing almost every shot. After using their last throw, they groaned.

“This biz is rigged!” Amethyst said.    
  
“I didn’t save Earth for this..” Peridot sighed.   
  
“Hey, now, kids! You still won something!” Mr. Smiley said, taking down a small finger puppet. “Here you go!”   
  
“I don’t want that!” Peridot exclaimed. “It’s so small!”   
  
“I’ll take it.” Twoie said, holding out his finger. Mr. Smiley put it on him and Twoie giggled, wiggling his finger so it’s arms flailed around.    


“Well, at least  _ you’re _ happy.” Peridot huffed.   
  
Amethyst put a hand on Peridot’s back. “Hey, we’re gonna get you that prize, Peri. Don’t worry.”

“Hey, Mr. Smiley!” Amethyst pointed behind her. “Is that Onion trying to light the rollercoaster on  _ fire _ ?!”   
  
“I’m not falling for that one again!” 

Suddenly, there was screaming in the distance. Onion was holding two firey poles next to the coaster. Mr. Smiley shouted in surprise and bolted over. 

“No! I’m still paying off the last lawsuit!”

“Heh, good ‘ol Onion.” Amethyst smirked, stretching her arm out and putting a ring on the bottles. 

Twoie hopped the counter and grabbed some rings from the floor, quickling placing them on a ton of bottles.   
  
“Whoa!!” Amethyst laughed. “Twoie!! Rebel!”   
  
“I want Peridot to get her prize.” He said.   
  
Steven looking back and forth from Mr. Smiley to Twoie, whimpering. “Twoie!!” He said, wringing his hands, paranoid. “That’s breaking the rules!”   
  
“It’s fine.” Twoie said, hopping back over. 

“But what if Mr. Smiley makes these rigged to save money..? He just said something about paying off a lawsuit and.. And he hasn’t slept in forever!”   
  
Twoie blinked. He sighed and took out a $10 bill. “Fine. This should make up for it.”   
  
He put the $10 on the edge of the table so Mr. Smiley would see, but not know it was from them, then hopped over the counter back to them again.   
  
Mr. Smiley trudged over. “All this runnin’ around.. I’m not even in a union!” He sighed.   
  
“Yo, Mr. S!” Amethyst called, pointing to the bottles. “We did it!”

“Huh. Would you look at that!” Mr. Smiley said. “And I thought this thing was rigged! Well, here you go.”   
  
He brought down the big alien and held it out. Peridot took it and hugged it close. “Yay!”

“Thanks, Mr. S!” Amethyst said as they all walked off.   
  
“No probl-- hey! Ten bucks!” Mr. Smiley picked up the bill and grinned. “Finally, something  _ good _ happens!”   
  
Twoie smiled to himself.

“Thanks for winning us those prizes, Twoie.” Steven said. Twoie shrugged. “No biggie. Plus, now I got this cool little boy!” He wiggled his finger. “I think his name’s gonna be.. Mr. Fingerman..”   
  
Steven snorted.   
  
“It’s a work in progress.” Twoie chuckled, leaning down and wiggling the finger puppet near Steven backed up and kept giggling as Twoie made the little arms tickle his face.    
  
“Twoie!! Stop it!!”   
  
“Stop what? I’m not even touching you!”   
  
“Yes, you are!!”   
  
“No, that’s Mr. Fingerman.” He teased, wiggling it around his head now as Steven backed up quicker, laughing. Twoie laughed too and chased after him.

“What’s wrong, Steven? I’m not even touching you!! C’mon!!”   
  
“Stop it!! You-- you--” He cut himself off by snorting. He hid behind a bench and Twoie came after him. Steven squealed and ran around the bench, teetering from side to side to try and trick Twoie.   
  
“He’s gonna get you!” Twoie teased, wiggling the finger puppet. “He’s gonna get you!!”

“No!!! I’m too young to die!!” Steven joked, running behind Amethyst. “Protect meeee!!”

Amethyst shifted into Purple Puma and playfully growled at Twoie. Twoie laughed. “Aw, c’mon! Lemme get him!”   
  
“No way~”

“Hmm..” Twoie thought. “What if.. We both got him?”   
  
“Nooo!!!” Steven whined.    
  
“Hm..” Amethyst thought, shifting back. “... Not a bad idea, Twoie!” She turned around and tackled Steven, tickling his sides. Steven cracked up and Twoie leaned down, tickling him too and wiggling Mr. Fingerman in his face. 

They all leaned back, laughing happily. Steven wiped his eyes and snickered. “You-- I’m gonna get you guys back..”   
  
“Oh, yeah?” Twoie chuckled. “Try me.”   
  
Steven shook his head. “N-nah.. I’m tired now. Whew..” He chuckled. “Okay.. okay.. Let’s just go sit down. I want something to eat.”

“Got it.” Twoie got up, holding Steven’s hand.   
  
“I can go get the food.” Amethyst said. Twoie gave a thumbs up and Amethyst left.   
  
Twoie sat down on a bench with Steven, next to Peridot.    
  
Peridot was tapping her screen, looking at Twitter. Steven peeked over.   
  
“What’cha doing?”   
  
“Reading these logs by other people.. They’re weird.”   
  
Twoie snickered. “Yeah. The Internet's weird.”

Peridot hummed.   


Steven looked around, glancing up at the clouds and back at the sea. He looked back at Twoie and Peridot.   
  
“This was fun.”   
  
“It was.” Twoie said. “I’m glad I came along.”   
  
“Me too.” Steven smiled.    
  
Peridot nodded. “Yes, this was a very enjoyable experience. Especially with your ring tossing skills, Twoie.” She hugged her stuffed alien and smiled.   
  
“Aww.” Twoie smiled.   
  
“Are you gonna name it?” Steven asked. 

“This?” Peridot looked up at the alien. “Hm… I don’t know. What would you name it, Steven?”   
  
“Hm.. How about.. Allen! The Alien!”   
  
“Allen?” Peridot sneered. “No.”    
  
“How about Fancy Alien?” Twoie supplied. “Or Mr. Alien? Or uh.. A? Mr. A?”   


“What is an ‘alien’?” Peridot asked.   
  
“An alien is someone from space!” Steven said. “Like him!” He pointed to the plushie.   
  
“I’m from space.”   
  
“Then you’re an alien.”   
  
“No, I’m a peridot..”   
  
“You’re both!”   
  
“Oh! Oh.. Oh!” Peridot nodded. “I see.. Well.. I’ll name him… Alien!”   
  
Twoie chuckled. “I like it.”

“Yoo, I’m back!” Amethyst called, holding three sticks of cotton candy and a two trays of fry bits in her arms. 

“Hey!” Twoie greeted.

Amethyst gave them all the cotton candy and Twoie and Steven the bits. She sat down and leaned back.   
  
“Why don’t you have cotton candy, Amethyst?” Steven asked.   
  
“I did. I ate mine on the way over though.”   
  
He laughed.   
  
They ate and talked and eventually the sky darkened. They rode home on Lion and said goodbye to Peridot when she warped to the barn.    
  
Steven went to sleep. He thought it was a pretty great day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope u enjoyed! Next chap has a lot more, I promise. Please leave a comment if you enjoyed!


	17. Now We're Only Falling Apart/What's Your Problem

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After learning the truth about Rose Quartz, Garnet falls apart. Steven wants to help her, but Twoie and Amethyst think otherwise.

Steven put another bite of pancake into his mouth, purring with delight.    
  
“So good!! You make the best pancakes, Twoie.”   
  
“Aw, thanks.” Twoie chuckled, eating some of his own. “I like cooking.”   
  
“What’s your favourite thing to cook?” Steven asked, pouring syrup on his pancakes.   
  
“Hm..” Twoie thought. “I dunno.. I like cooking ‘country browns’.”   
  
“What’re those??”   
  
“Diced spicy potatoes with cheese on top. Though, I once tried to cook ratatouille…  _ That _ was really fun.”

“Ratatouille? What is that? Does it have something to do with rats?”   
  
Twoie snorted. “No.”   
  
Steven giggled. “I know! It’s the french thing with the uh.. The slices of stuff, right?”   
  
“Yes. It’s actually really spicy.”   
  
“Ooh.. can you teach me to cook sometime?”   
  
“Sure!”   
  
Steven smiled and wiped his mouth with his napkin, done with breakfast. He looked around and hummed. “It’s weird that Pearl’s not up.. She’s usually the one to make breakfast.”   
  
“Yeah.. that’s weird.” Twoie looked at the door. “Maybe she just has some gem thing to do today?”   
  
“Maybe…”

The door opened, Sapphire running out with tears streaming down her face.    
  
**_“I LET HER MAKE FOOLS OF US ALL!”_ **

_ “Sapphire! Wait! Please!”  _ Ruby ran out, reaching for Sapphire on the warp pad.   
  
“W-we can just stay calm and talk about this, right?” 

She reached out her hand, tentatively.    
  
“Let’s just.. talk.”

“About what?” Sapphire spat back. “How our relationship is based on a  **_lie?”_ **

She huffed, turning away.    
  
“What else is there to say?”   
  
She warped off.

Ruby dropped to her knees, sobbing.

“Ruby?” Steven asked, getting up. “What’s going on?”   
  
Ruby looked up at him and sniffled. “I--”   
  
Pearl was flung into the room, slipping and sliding down Sapphire’s icy trail until she crashed into the floor on her face. She groaned and got up, rubbing her gem. “Ow..”

Amethyst walked in after her, laying down on the couch.   
  
“Pearl! What happened?” Steven rushed over. Pearl sighed. “I told them about Rose.. Garnet didn’t take it well.”   
  
“Oh.” Steven frowned. 

Twoie looked away. 

“Well, then…” Steven helped her up. “We gotta go help Sapphire.”   
  
“R-right..” Pearl nodded. **  
** **  
** Amethyst looked up. “Steven, this is our problem, not yours. You don’t gotta help.”   
  
“Wh- Yes, I do! Sapphire’s hurting, we need to help her!”   
  
“Just let him go.” Twoie sighed, getting up. 

Pearl went to the warp, tapping her foot impatiently, waiting for Steven.

Steven looked at her. “Um. Sorry, I’m comin--”   
  
“Wait.” Twoie grabbed his shoulder.   
  
Steven groaned. “What now?!”   
  
Twoie took off his jacket and put it on Steven.   
  
“It’s cold there.”   
  
“Oh.” Steven looked down at the jacket and smiled. “Um. Thank you. Bye, Twoie.”   
  
“Bye!” Twoie waved.    
  
Steven ran after Pearl and warped to Rose’s fountain, snowing and covered in ice.

**\----------**

Steven came back with Sapphire and Pearl. He kind of regretted going. It was uncomfortable to see Sapphire like that, and he already knew all the stuff Pearl said. Twoie’s jacket helped with the cold, but only for his torso. He blew into his hands and rubbed his face. 

He sighed. He was being selfish. He  _ needed _ to help Sapphire. It didn’t matter if he was uncomfortable. 

“Ruby?” Sapphire called. “I’m so sorry! Where are-- huh?”   
  
Sapphire picked up a folded up piece of paper, her name messily scribbled on it. She opened it up, reading the contents.    
  
“‘Sapphire, you were right. I need some time to think. So I am running away. Ruby.’”

“This can’t be happening.” She sniffled, a tear coming from her eye. “Oh, Ruby… I’m so sorry. You left before I could take back all the horrible things I said to you…”

Pearl took the note and gulped. “Well, Amethyst and Twoie were with her, right? Maybe they knew where she went?”   
  
Steven looked upstairs. Twoie and Amethyst were playing video games together. 

“Amethyst! Twoie! Have you seen Ruby?”   
  
“Yeah!” Twoie called. “She ran off. Just let her go, she needs to think.”   
  
“What?!” Steven yelled. “You let her go!? Twoie, what if she gets hurt!”   
  
“She won’t!” Twoie huffed. “Ruby is fine. She just needs to be alone for a while!”   


“Tell us where she is!” Pearl called.   
  
“I dunno!” Twoie said. “She might not be there yet! But she’s in town! Don’t worry.”   
  
“Don’t-- ‘don’t  _ worry?!’” _ Pearl cried. “How can I not worry!? What if Garnet never comes back!”   
  
“Pearl, I’ve been through this already. Ruby’s fine, Garnet will come back, just let this happen.”   
  
“Oh, get off your high horse, mister! You may be from the future but that doesn’t mean you don’t get to care about the present!”   
  
Twoie bit his lip. Amethyst groaned and paused the game. “Yo, can you take this somewhere else? I can’t play with all the yelling.”   
  
Sapphire sniffled and ran off to her room.   
  
“Sapphire!” Pearl called, running after her. The door shut.   


Steven couldn’t believe it. He expected this kind of attitude from Amethyst, but from  _ Twoie _ ? He didn’t even care that Ruby ran off?? He just let her go while playing  _ video games?? _

“Hey, Steven!” Twoie called. “Come up here. We got a third controller.”   
  
“No!” Steven frowned. He jumped up and landed in front of the TV, crossing his arms. “I’m gonna go find Ruby, and you two are gonna help me!”   
  
“Hard pass.” Amethyst said.   
  
“I’m not doing that.” Twoie said.   
  
Steven grit his teeth. “What’s  _ wrong _ with you!? Don’t you  _ care!?” _ _   
_ _   
_ “Of course I care, Steven.” Twoie said. “But this isn’t our responsibility. Ruby is over a thousand years old. She can handle herself. Also, I know where she is, and she’s  _ fine. _ ”   
  
“Then tell me where she is!”   
  
“No. You don’t have to search for he--”   
  
“Yes, I do! Because I actually  _ care  _ about her! You’re just sitting here doing  _ nothing _ !”

Amethyst gasped. “Hey!! That’s mean! I care!”   
  
“You aren’t ACTING like it!!”   
  
“By invading her fucking space, exhausting ourselves, and putting others before us all the time?” Twoie deadpanned. “‘Cause if  _ that’s _ showing how to care? I’ve done it already. And it  _ sucks _ .”   
  
Amethyst stared at him.

Steven recoiled. 

“...”

Twoie sighed and set down his controller.

“Sorry. I snapped. C’mere. We need to talk.”   
  
Steven crossed his arms, feeling tears prick at his eyes.   
  
Twoie whined. “Oh, no.. don’t cry, Steven.. That-- ugh. I’m sorry. C’mere..” He opened his arms. “Please? I promise Ruby’s fine..”   
  
“...”

Twoie sighed and let his arms fall. “Listen, Steven.. I know it’s hard to let things go. It took me years--”   
  
“You’ve told me this already.”   
  
Twoie huffed. “Hear me out. You shouldn’t help Ruby because she doesn’t need your help. You  _ need  _ to learn that not everyone is your responsibility. That it’s not  _ selfish _ to put yourself first. Because what you’re doing isn’t healthy.. And, I'm not mad. I don’t blame you! You’re a kid, you haven’t known any other way. But.. uh.. ‘lighting yourself on fire to keep everyone else warm’.. Isn’t good. So stay here, relax, and.. Play some games with us.”   
  
“Or you can talk about how you feel..” Amethyst said. “If you wanna.”   
  
“It isn’t that big of a deal.” Steven grumbled. “I’m not ‘lighting myself on fire’ by just  _ going  _ outside.”

“Maybe not.” Twoie said. “But this is a slippery slope. The more you excuse the little things like  _ ‘oh, it’s fine, I’ll just not tell the gems this one thing because it’ll make them feel bad’ _ or _ ‘It won’t kill me to go outside to look for ruby’ _ or  _ ‘the fact that Pearl almost killed me is fine because she was going through something, I don’t need to talk about that!’ _ , the more likely it is later that you excuse  _ worse  _ things:”

“Like: _‘I don’t mind exhausting myself for Pearl and Garnet, they need me! It’d be selfish not to help._ ’ or ‘ _It’s okay that she tried to shatter me, we’re friends now!’,_ _‘it’s okay she poofed my family and messed them up and almost destroyed the earth and almost killed me, we’re friends now!’_ , or _‘it’s okay she pulled out my gem, we’re_ ** _friends_** _now!’”_

Amethyst and Steven gaped.

Twoie bit his lip, seemingly unaware of his last statement.   
  
“... So. Yeah. I’m not saying.. That helping is bad.. But you gotta know when to put up boundaries. The more you.. You respect  _ yourself _ and  _ your needs _ , the happier you are and.. The more authentic your connection with others becomes. ‘Cause if you lie all the time and say it’s fine when it’s not… you feel like you’re always  _ hiding  _ and always helping and.. You don’t deserve anything more.”   
  
He leaned back.

“... So.. yeah.”

Steven looked down at his gem.

“... Someone pulled out your gem?”   
  
“What?” Twoie paled. “Oh, god, did- oh.” He gulped. “I.. I’m sorry. I let that slip. I’m so sorry.”

“D-did someone.. P-pull out your gem?” Steven repeated.

Twoie sighed. “Mhmm.”   
  
“W.. why?”   
  
“They wanted mom to come out.”   
  
Amethyst shuddered.   
  
Steven gulped, feeling his stomach churn. “Did she?”   
  
“She’s dead, Steven. She didn't come out.”   
  
“Oh.”

Steven pulled Twoie’s jacket tighter around himself, bringing his knees to his chest and looking downwards. He wiped his eyes.   
  
Amethyst let out a long breath.

“... And you’re friends with that gem?”   
  
“More like diplomatic allies, but yeah.”   
  
“Why?”   
  
“Because… I dunno. I have to. And, well, I have a lot of experience shoving down near death experiences, so..” He chuckled anxiously.

“...” Steven sniffled. “But.. I like helping people.”   
  
“Not saying you can’t, just saying that if you do, you gotta not hurt yourself, too.”   
  
“But didn’t you- you also say you gotta do what you gotta do sometimes?”   
  
“Yeah. But, afterwards--”   
  
“I don’t have to hurt. Afterwards, I can confront them.” Steven nodded. “Y-yeah..”   
  
He looked towards the door. The night sky was slowly creeping in, moonlight streaming in through windows and coating everything in gray.   
  
“... I understand.” Steven sighed, crawling over and hugging Twoie. “I… I understand.”   
  
Twoie hugged him back. “I hope I didn’t scare you too much, Steven. I.. I’m sorry.”   
  
“No, you’re.. You’re right.” Steven kissed his cheek. “But, um.. I..” He sobbed. “I’m actually-- r--really scared about m-my gem… being.. T-taken--”   
  
He gagged.   
  
“Whoa, whoa..” Twoie shushed. “It’s okay.. That won’t happen for a long, long, time.. And It might not even happen at all.. You’ll be okay.. You’ll be okay..”   
  
Steven nodded, understanding the logic behind Twoie’s words. He was right, he was right.. He was very right and- and Steven shouldn’t feel sick.

But he still felt sick.

He started to bawl despite his best efforts and buried himself in Twoie’s shoulder. Twoie whimpered and looked down in shame. Amethyst patted him on the back and gave him a reassuring look and joining in on the hug, sandwiching Steven between them. Steven purred at the love, but couldn’t stop crying and shaking. He gripped the shirt over his gem and his bubble formed around them, echoing his cries.

Twoie and Amethyst just sat there, comforting him the best they could.

**\----------**

Pearl passed through, asking Twoie where Ruby was. Twoie said she was talking to his dad, and they were figuring stuff out. Pearl nodded and went back into the temple, watching Steven cry as she left with a perturbed expression. She disappeared behind the door.

Eventually, the bubble dropped and Steven backed up, wiping his eyes.   
  
“I’m sorry.”   
  
“Don’t be.” Amethyst smiled, patting his head. “You’re all good, dude.”   
  
Steven smiled and leaned against her.

Twoie patted Steven’s shoulder. “I’m sorry. I scared you.”   
  
“No, no.. it’s okay. You didn’t mean to.” Steven smiled. “And.. I think I.. needed to hear that. I guess. I mean, if it’ll end up making everything better, it’s all good..”   
  
Twoie thought before nodding and handing Steven a controller.   
  
“Wanna play video games?”   
  
“Sure. What’re we playing?”   
  
_ “Turbo Shooting II.”  _ Amethyst said. 

“Oh! I forgot I had that cute ‘em up.” Steven said, connecting his controller. Twoie picked up P2 and they resumed the game.

They played for about an hour, Steven feeling better as the time passed. He forgot about Ruby, Sapphire, Garnet, and Pearl and only focused on shooting the cute pixelated monsters with his favorite siblings in the world. 

After that hour had passed, Ruby came into the house.

Steven gasped and paused the game, jumping down and tackling Ruby in a hug.   
  
“Ruby!! Oh, I’m so happy you’re back! Are you okay?”   
  
“Hey, Steven.” Ruby smiled, ruffling his hair. “Yeah, I’m good. Me and Greg talked things out.”   
  
“Oh, how’d that go?”   
  
“Good! I just came back to say goodbye.”   
  
“What!?” Steven flinched back. “Y-you’re leaving??”   
  
“Only for a little while!” Ruby said. “I think. I- I need to be on my own for a while, okay? Me and Sapphy aren’t done and.. I might come back here sometimes, but I wanna go adventuring! So, goodbye.” She hugged him and went upstairs.    
  
Steven whimpered, watching as Ruby said bye to Amethyst and Twoie. She was leaving? What if she never came back? What if Garnet never came back? What would happen to Sapphire? To everyone? To him??    
  
“Bye, Steven. Love you.” Ruby said.    
  
“Wait!” Steven called out. “Aren’t you gonna say g-goodbye to Sapphire? Pearl?”   
  
Ruby frowned. “I think it’d be worse to say goodbye to Sapphire. And since Pearl is with her, I can’t say bye to her either.” She gave him a reassuring smile. “It’ll be okay, Steven. I’ll see you again.”   
  
She left.   
  
Twoie hummed. “Wow. Good for her.”   
  
_ “Good for her?! _ ” Steven cried. “What if she never comes back!?”   
  
“She will!”   
  
Steven whined. “You didn’t tell me she’d leave forever…”   
  
“Because she’s not leaving forever, Steven. She’s gonna have a cowboy adventure and then come back to marry Sapphire.”   
  
Steven froze.   
  
“ **Marry** ?”

Twoie smirked. “Mhmm.”  
  
Steven beamed, rushing over to his closet. “OH MY GOSH OH MY GOSH _OH MY GOSH_!!!!! I GOTTA START PLANNING!!!”  
  
Twoie laughed. Amethyst chuckled. “You really like weddings, huh?”  
  
“I **_LOVE_** _THEM_!! AH!! THEY’RE GONNA BE SO CUTE _TOGETHERRRRRR!!!_ ”  
  
“They- they liked--” Twoie snorted. “They liked the theme of Dolphins and uh.. Flames last time, I think.”  
  
“I’ll get right on it!”  
  
Twoie and Amethyst shared a look and chuckled. Steven didn’t notice, however, and just kept drawing up plans for Ruby and Sapphire’s wedding.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please leave a comment if you enjoyed!!


	18. Wanderlust

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Amethyst, Steven, and Twoie go on an adventure of their own while Ruby is away.

The next day, Pearl made Twoie, Steven, and Amethyst breakfast. Sapphire sat with them, looking off into the future.    
  
“Thanks for the breakfast, Pearl.” Twoie said, eating his omelette.    
  
“It’s no problem, Twoie.” Pearl smiled tightly. “... So.. when did you say Ruby was coming back?”   
  
“Dunno exactly. Maybe a week?”

Sapphire sighed. “I miss her.. I was so stupid.”   
  
“Don’t beat yourself up, Sapphire.” Pearl said, patting her shoulder. “It’ll be okay.”   


“I guess so. It’s just..” She sighed. “Nevermind. I’m going to go into my room and meditate.”   
  
“Okay, bye!” Steven called. “Love you!”   
  
“Love you, too.” Sapphire said, a tint of a smile in her voice. Her room opened, leading to an ice structure with a waterfall behind it. It shut.

Pearl hummed. “I’m going to my room, too.”    
  
She left.   
  
Amethyst ate her plate and burped. “Man, this is a bummer.”   
  
“Yeah..” Steven sighed.   
  
Amethyst leaned back against the counter. “I bet Ruby’s having fun right now.. On a cool cowboy adventure.. Wish  _ I  _ was on an adventure.”   
  
“Yeah..” Steven repeated.   
  
“Wait!” Amethyst gasped. “What if..  _ We  _ went on an adventure?”   
  
“That’d be fun!” Steven said. “I’ll get Sapphire and Pearl--”   
  
“I dunno if you should get them..” Amethyst said. “Sapphire’s pretty bummed out and Pearl.. Well, she doesn’t like exploring. She likes  _ cleaning _ and  _ chores _ and whatever.”   
  
“Are you sure..?” Steven asked.   
  
“Yeah. It’ll be just us!”   
  
Steven hummed and looked back at Twoie. 

Twoie looked at him. “What?”   
  
“Oh. Nothing. I just.. Should we invite them..?”   
  
Twoie shrugged. “I dunno. Uh.. I mean, I wouldn’t mind having them along.”   
  
Amethyst groaned. “I do!”   


“Well, I’m still gonna ask Pearl.” Steven said, running off into the temple. He saw her on top of one of the waterfalls, holding a Rose Quartz bubble. He sighed.   
  
“Pearl!”   
  
Pearl squawked and hugged the bubble, staring down. “Uh-- Steven?? What is it?”   
  
“Me, Twoie, and Amethyst are gonna go on an adventure! Wanna come?”   
  
“Uh, No! I’m good!”   
  
“Aw, okay. Just figured I’d ask!”   
  
He turned to leave.   
  
“Steven!” Pearl called. Steven turned around.   
  
“Don’t ask Sapphire. She wants to be alone right now.”   
  
“Aw… okay.”   
  
He left and re-entered the house, coming upon Twoie and Amethyst chatting excitedly. 

“-- would be so cool!”   
  
“I know right!! I’ve already got a few places in mind, to be honest..” Twoie said.   
  
“Really?? Oh, man, this is gonna be great! And I can be the  _ horse.”  _

“Hey, guys!” Steven greeted. “I asked Pearl if she wanted to come, and she said no.. and Sapphire needs to be alone, so it’s just us!”   
  
“Okay.” Twoie gave a thumbs up. Amethyst whooped and went to the warp. “Then what’re we waiting for!? Let’s go!”   
  
“We need to pack snacks first!” Steven said, opening up the cabinets. Amethyst rolled her eyes.   
  
“Dude, we’ll scavenge for food!”   
  
“Nah, he’s right.” Twoie said. “If we eat the wrong thing, we’ll die.”   
  
“Ugh. Humans have gotten so weak. Back in my day, humans just ate whatever!”   
  
“Yeah, well..” Steven packed some snack food and camping supplies into his Cheeseburger Backpack. “We’re civilized part-humans, we don’t wanna just eat whatever and risk food poisoning.”   
  
Amethyst shrugged. “Whatever, you babies. Now get up here!”   
  
Twoie and Steven got up on the warp and warped off.

They arrived in a lush green field, the sun shining overhead, reflecting off the nearby swamp. In front of them was a small forest, dotted with pink flowers swaying in the sweet breeze. In the distance were some mountains, and on the farthest, was an oddly shaped silhouette of something. 

Twoie and Steven’s eyes sparkled at the scenery. Amethyst grinned.   
  
“Wow.” Twoie breathed. “I  _ have  _ to come here more often…”   
  
Steven nodded. “Yeah..” He looked around. “It’s so vast.. So open..”   
  
“So adventurous!” Amethyst cheered. “I wanna check out that thing at the top of the mountain!” She pointed up. Twoie squealed and clapped his hands together excitedly. “YES!! Oh, man, that looks interesting!”   
  
Steven giggled. “Yeah! So let’s get moving!” He took a few steps forward. Amethyst cleared her throat.   
  
“I think we won’t be walking, Steven..”   
  
“Oh?” Steven tilted his head. 

“We’re gonna ride  _ in style _ ~”    
  
She grit her teeth, her form glowing and shifting into a purple horse with a long, flowing, mane.    
  
“Neigh!!! Hop on!”   
  
Steven laughed and jumped up, floating down onto Amethyst’s back. Twoie got up behind him.    
  
“Okay! Here we go!” Steven said. He kicked Amethyst in the side. “YA!”   
  
Amethyst looked back slowly, glaring. Steven shrank under her glare and chuckled nervously. “Eh-he.. S-sorry..”   
  
Amethyst smirked. “It’s fine, dude. Just tell me when to go.”   
  
“Got it! Uh. GO!”   
  
Amethyst reared back, almost throwing them off, and galloped full speed towards the mountain. 

Steven and Twoie looked around in awe as the scenery whirred by them. The clouds overhead stretched and glowed with sunlight.   
  
Steven breathed in the breeze, feeling his lungs thank him for that refreshing breath, and breathed out, shoulders relaxing.   
  
“Wait!”    
  
Amethyst skidded to a stop. “What?!”   
  
Twoie pointed.   
  
“Cave.”   
  
Amethyst and Steven looked to where he was pointing. In the hillside, there was a rocky cave, flowers leading in. Amethyst oohed and walked over. “Nice.. maybe there’ll be some treasure!”   
  
“Yeah!” Twoie hopped off and walked in, summoning his shield as a light source. It didn’t work. He sighed. Steven came in and set down his backpack. “Maybe I brought a flashlight..”   
  
“No need.” Amethyst said, her gem glowing like a flashlight, shining a beam into the shallow but large cave. Twoie smiled. “Great! Let’s go, you lead.”   
  
“Got it.” Amethyst went inside. They walked for a short while before entering the main part of the cave. It was a spherical shape, dug out, with a mural on the wall. The mural depicted a gem with a diamond on her forehead, rising above many hands outstretched towards her in need. Below and above her were planets. To her left and right, in the foreground, were two pillars with bodies carved onto them. The bodies were hugging themselves. In the background there were loose lines, outlining structures. 

“Whoa..” Amethyst breathed. 

Twoie stepped forward. “White Diamond... but why would a mural of  _ her _ be on  _ Pink’s  _ planet?”   
  
“ _ That’s _ White Diamond?” Amethyst asked, gently feeling the wall.    
  
“Yeah.”   
  
“How do you know..? Have you seen her in person before?”   
  
“Yes.”   
  
“Whoa, really?”   
  
“Mhmm.”   
  
“What’s she like?”   
  
“She was horrible.” Twoie grumbled. “... But, now she’s just kinda annoying, I guess. As bad as I feel calling someone annoying, you can’t really feel too bad about calling someone who’s murdered  _ thousands  _ bad.”   
  
“Huh.” Amethyst nodded.   
  
Steven gazed up at the mural.   
  
“What’re these hands about?”   
  
“I dunno..” Twoie hummed, squinting at the hands. “Maybe.. Maybe they’re meant to symbolize people in need? And her helping them?”   
  
“She helped people?” Steven asked.   
  
“I don’t think so. But whoever sculpted this probably believed that.”

“Wasn’t White the founder of Homeworld or something? The original Diamond?” Amethyst pondered. “Maybe this symbolizes her.. Creating the gems and leading them to ‘greatness’.”   
  
“Ah.. yeah..”   
  
Steven sat back and looked around. “I just think it’s cool.”   
  
Twoie snorted. “That’s also valid.”   
  
“... I can see some gem language on the walls.”   
  
“What??” Twoie looked up. “Oh, whoa..”   
  
Around the wall, in a line, was Gemgliph. Twoie hummed. “Can one of you help me up? I can’t read it..”   
  
Steven grabbed Twoie and hoisted him up.   
  
“We’re still too short.” Twoie said.   
  
Steven stretched out his legs. Twoie did too. Amethyst shined her gem on the text, beginning on the right side of the doorway. Twoie squinted.   
  
“... White.. Diamond.”   
  
He touched the wall and leaned in closer.   
  
“... It’s broken off in some places.. And.. Some of these symbols I can’t recognize. This must be Era 1 Gemglyph. 

“So you can’t read it?” Amethyst asked.   
  
“I can read some. Gimme a second.”   


He scanned the wall, moving along the line.   
  
“White Diamond, creative..? No, origin.. Originator of gemkind. Something.. Something.. Years ago..” He moved further along. “Blue and Yellow Diamond created. A great force.” He moved further along. “Pink Diamond was created, small in stature but powerful still. All hail.. Devoted.. Homeworld.”   
  
He backed up, now at the left side of the entrance.    
  
“That’s all I can make out.”   
  
“Mostly gibberish, huh?” Amethyst joked.   
  
Twoie snorted. “Yeah. But..”    
  
He hopped off Steven’s shoulders. Steven shapeshifted back to himself.

“I still think it tells a story.. Maybe of how the Diamonds were created?”   
  
“Huh.” Amethyst looked up at the mural. “Cool.”   
  
“Cool.” Steven breathed.   
  
The cave echoed their words.   
  
“... Welp.” Amethyst turned around. “Let’s keep going. I wanna see that mountain.”   
  
“Right.” Steven said, following her.    
  
They exited the cave and Amethyst turned back into a horse. They rode off. On their way, they saw more woods, more flowers, a whole field.. Out in the middle of that field, there were a few axes, some wooden poles sticking out of the ground, and a wailing stone. Twoie wanted to go explore it, but Amethyst said there wasn’t more to it and kept going.    
  
Nearer to the mountain, Steven gasped.   
  
“Whoa..”   
  
On the mountainside there was a waterfall flowing out a cave down into a lake, surrounded by flowers, trees, and filled with lily pads. It glistened in the sunlight.   
  
“We gotta go there..”   
  
Amethyst nodded. “Definitely.. Maybe after we get up the mountain, we can chill there.”   
  
They rode up to the side of the mountain, right next to the small oasis. Amethyst shifted back into a humanoid form and looked up.   
  
“I don’t wanna climb that.”   
  
“Me neither.” Steven said.   
  
“Hm..” Twoie rubbed his chin. “I could just jump up? Carry you all with me?”   
  
“Sure!” Amethyst said, hopping in his arms. He fell over. They laughed.   
  
“You gotta weigh less!”   
  
“Not sure that’s possible, pal!”   
  
“Well, too bad.”   
  
“What if.. We formed Mega Steven and then flew up with Amethyst?” Steven exclaimed. “More strength and more height!”

“Huh.. okay!” Twoie said, getting up. “Ready, Steven?”   
  
“Always.”   


They held hands, Steven spinning them around and jumping up, going in a lopsided circle. Twoie laughed and picked him up, hugging him close. They fused and looked to Amethyst.   
  
“You guys are so cute it disgusts me.” Amethyst mocked playfully. He rolled his eyes and picked her up, jumping high into the air and clearing the mountain. 

“Whoa..”   
  
With clouds just above them, they looked down to the grassy mountain. On top, right in the middle of it’s natural clearing, were the ruins of a blueish silver gem structure. It had a wide, square base, leading upwards to make a pyramid, if most of the top half hadn’t been destroyed; leaving a crater in its side. On the top, there was a tall spire with arches peering in. On one side of the structure, fallen off, was a diamond shaped stone, and the other was a little way up the hill, shattered.

They floated down slowly and landed in front of the structure.   
  
“This is crazy..” Amethyst said. Mega Steven unfused and Twoie walked up the steps, taking in the structure. He walked over to a wailing stone, placed on one of the two remaining corners. The other lay broken. On the bottom floor, at four corners, were another four wailing stones. Twoie pressed the button curiously.   
  
It was silent other than a low buzzing and warbling.   
  
Amethyst breathed out. “This is.. So.. weird.”   
  
“Yeah.” Steven said. “It’s.. isn’t it weird that gems used to be here? That this place used to be.. Whole? And now.. It’s just a relic. Broken..”   
  
“Yeah..” Amethyst walked up, tilting her head back and looking up at the towering spire. “Wanna go see what’s up there?”   
  
“Yeah.” Steven nodded.    
  
Twoie was still listening to the wailing stone.   
  
They made their way up the spire, having to jump over broken or missing pieces, or climb the outside when the walkway just wasn’t whole enough. It spiraled upwards, with arches to look out of as gems would walk up. At least, that’s what Steven thought they were for. 

Once they reached the ‘top’ (the real top had been lost to time), they sat down and looked out over the landscape. Green grass, lush forests, rolling hills untouched by man. They could see more gem remnants in the distance, and even further, they could see a small village, nestled in a valley. Steven smiled.   
  
“Can you imagine living here?”   
  
“No way.” Amethyst sighed. “But I’d like to. Just for a bit.”   
  
Steven nodded.

He watched a cloud roll by. He smiled. Clouds always seemed to go so fast when you looked at them, but so slow when you weren’t paying attention. Time seemed slow to him now, but the world was moving fast.   
  
“Hey, look.” Amethyst said, pointing down to the right of the structure. Steven peered over. On the ground was a broken telescope.   
  
“Maybe this place was used to.. Look out. Or something.”   
  
“That would explain the wailing stones.”   
  
Twoie came into view, leaning down and inspecting the telescope.    
  
Amethyst smiled and watched him.   
  
He picked it up and looked inside, then recoiled and nearly dropped it.   
  
Steven tilted his head.    
  
_ “What’s in it??” _ He yelled.   
  
Twoie looked up. “... Huh?”   
  
_ “I  _ **_said_ ** _ : What’s in it!?” _

_ “Oh! Uh.. there’s a gem shard! But I think it’s those.. Artificial ones?” _ _   
_ _   
_ “Artificial?” Amethyst frowned. “What..?”

She slid down. Steven followed, floating off and to the ground. They looked down at the shattered telescope. Steven picked it up and looked inside. There, connected to the walls with green tubing, was a red gem shard. He winced. “Gross.”   
  
“What did you mean by artificial?” Amethyst asked Twoie. Twoie shrugged. “I’d need to ask Pearl.. But I remember as a kid Pearl showing me gem shards that were used to control things.. Like Frybo.”   
  
“Frybo?” Amethyst asked.   
  
“Like a suit of armour?” Twoie said.   
  
“Why would a suit of armour have a name?”   
  
“It wasn’t-- Ugh.” Twoie rubbed his temples. “The point  _ is _ : they weren’t people, I don’t think.. Just artificial? But, I don’t know, maybe that  _ was  _ a gem, broken up just to be used as a telescope.”

Steven glanced down at it.   
  
“... That’s kinda sad.”   
  
“Yeah.” Twoie knelt down. “Poor her, if she existed.”   
  
Amethyst frowned. “This is bumming me out.”   
  
“Really?” Twoie said. “I like this.”   
  
“You like looking at  _ gem shards _ ?”   
  
“No! No.. I like exploring. Discovering things and.. Wondering about them. Reminds me I don’t always need to find an answer to something; sometimes.. I can just let it be.”   
  
He looked up to the tower, then down at the world.   
  
“... It’s cool.”   
  
Amethyst looked to where he was looking. Steven did, too, but only saw waving grass.

“...Well, we found it.” Amethyst said. “I think it’s time we head to the waterfall place.”   
  
“Sounds good.” Twoie said. He turned to Steven. “Wanna help me get down there?”

Steven smiled. “Yeah.”   
  
Twoie knelt down and hugged him. Steven hugged him back. They fused and held Amethyst as he floated down to the ground, landing right next to the oasis.

Amethyst walked over and laughed. “Look! There’s a frog!”   
  
“Oh, really??” Mega Steven said, coming over.    
  
On a lilypad, just sitting, was a green frog. Mega Steven smiled. “He’s cute.”   
  
“Yeah.”   
  
The frog ran off.   
  
“Aw.”

Mega Steven chuckled. “I think we spooked him.”   
  
“Whoops~” Amethyst shrugged, sitting and leaning against a nearby tree.   
  
Mega Steven smiled. He’d let her rest, but he still wanted to explore a little.

Already, up close, he noticed things he hadn’t before. He saw apples in the trees, flowers of pink and purple colours, bugs crawling around, fish swimming in the lake, frogs jumping around…

He sat down and gazed at the waterfall as it cascaded downwards, listening to the water splashing and moving around. 

The sun moved slowly across the sky as they all rested.

Five minutes into their nap, Mega Steven saw something. He felt constricted, and saw a white light in front of himself. Suddenly, his gems felt loose, his skin taught. He struggled and begged, but half of him just gave up. He felt his gems being tugged at, torn from his skin--   
  
He woke up in a cold sweat, shivering. 

They split apart. Twoie looked over to Steven, who was curled up.    
  
“... What..” Twoie breathed. “... Are you.. Okay?”   
  
“... I’m- I’m sorry.”   
  
“... You.. How could you remember that? You weren’t there.”   
  
“I- I didn’t. I just..” He looked up. “I keep thinking about what you said…”   
  
“Oh, Steven--”   
  
“No, no.. I..” He wiped his eyes. “Don’t feel bad. I just..”   
  
He sidled up to Twoie.   
  
“What you said about.. About hiding. It really resonated with me.”   
  
“It did?”   
  
“Mhmm. Because.. Because I’ve been holding in so much for so long.. I’m still bugged by some of the stuff the gems did, and I.. I’ve wanted to talk to them, but I always felt I should just let it go because it wasn’t that big of a deal..”   
  
“But it is to  _ you _ .”   
  
“Yeah.” Steven wrapped his arms around Twoie. Twoie held him back. “I.. I wanna talk to them now. Stop hiding. Stop.. bottling all of this up.”   
  
“That’s a great idea, Steven.” Twoie smiled, hugging him tightly. “I’m so proud of you..”   
  
Steven chuckled. “Aw, thanks..”   


“Are you sure that’s all, though?” Twoie pulled back a little. “That dream..”   
  
“I know.. I just.. I’m just kinda freaked out about it, but I don’t need to talk about it. It’s just an image that.. Won’t really go away for a while.”   
  
“Mm. Okay, we can talk about that later.”   
  
Steven nodded.   
  
“Hey, Ste-cups.” Amethyst said, plopping beside them. “What’s up? I saw you guys unfuse.”   
  
“Oh, don’t worry about it.” Steven said. He crawled over Twoie’s lap to sit next to her. “Can I.. talk to you about something?”   
  
“Oh, sure, what is it.”   
  
“I…” Steven gulped. “... W-well.. I know this is sudden, but.. I’ve been thinking about this for a while and I figure I should just rip the band-aid off, y’know?”   
  
“O.. kay?”

“Remember when.. You turned into mom?”   
  
Amethyst paled.    
  
“... I still feel weird about that. Um.. did.. Did you.. Did you wanna hurt dad..? Did you want to hurt  _ me?” _ _   
_ _   
_ “No.” Amethyst shook her head. “No, Steven! I didn’t! Why’re you bringing that up??”   
  
“Because it’s been bothering me for.. For a while.. And.. I just..”   
  
He looked down. Maybe he was being stupid.. Or rude..   
  
Twoie put a hand on his back. “This isn’t anything against you, Amethyst.. He just wants some closure, is all.”   
  
Steven looked up and smiled at him, then turned to Amethyst and nodded.   
  
“Well..” Amethyst sighed. “No, man, I didn’t wanna hurt you.. I was just being a jerk and I was.. Really sad. So I did something I shouldn’t have. I’m sorry.”   
  
Steven smiled. “Thanks..”   
  
“For what?””   
  
“Apologizing.”   
  
“Oh, yeah, no problem, dude.”

Steven hugged her. Amethyst hugged back.   
  
“Yeah.. I wasn’t the best person back then..” Amethyst said. “So, I’m sorry about whatever happened, man. I promise, I love you, dude. I don’t wanna hurt you. Or Greg.”   
  
Steven’s tension fell from his shoulders.   
  
“I’m so happy to hear that.”   


Twoie smiled.

Soon after, now sunset, they headed back and warped into the temple. Sapphire was upstairs, trying to figure out how to play a video game. Amethyst cocked her head to the side.   
  
“Yo, Sapphire!”   
  
Sapphire squeaked and dropped the controller. “Uh, yes?”   
  
“What’re you doing?”   
  
Sapphire sighed. “I’m just.. Waiting for Ruby. It’s.. very boring without her.”   
  
She hopped down from the second floor and looked out the window. “I just wish I could.. Get away from all this. It only reminds me of her.. Of us.”   
  
Steven smiled. “You wanna go on an adventure with us?”   
  
Sapphire turned. “Adventure?”   
  
“Yeah! We know a really cool place~!”   
  
Twoie rolled his eyes fondly and Amethyst stepped off the warp pad, stretching.    
  
“Yep! We just had a whole adventure.. I’m tired, though.” Amethyst flopped down on the couch. “Pretty cool area..”   
  
“Oh.” Sapphire smiled. “That sounds wonderful. Please, take me there.”   
  
She stepped onto the warp and Steven hugged her.   
  
“This is gonna be so much fun!”   
  
They warped off.

**\----------**

After a short late afternoon of adventuring, they returned to the temple. Sapphire was glowing with contentment, Twoie was tired, and Steven was happy. She hugged Steven, thanking him for the trip out before heading back to her room. He waved goodbye and headed to bed himself.

As he lay his tired bones down into the soft mattress, he sighed and smiled.

What a great day. _   
_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please leave a comment if u enjoyed!!


	19. The Question/Made of Honour

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ruby returns after her adventure with surprising news. A friend returns.

“EVERYONE!” Greg called out, bursting into the house. Twoie choked on his breakfast, Steven jumped in his chair, and everyone else looked over, too.   
  
“W-what’s wrong?” Pearl got up.    
  
“Come outside. Ruby’s back and she has something to say to Sapphire.”   
  
Sapphire gasped, the couch beneath her freezing slightly. “Oh, no... “ She got up and went to Greg. “Is.. is she angry?”   
  
Greg smiled. “Just come outside.”   
  
Sapphire frowned and left. Everyone followed to the balcony, looking out at the ocean. Twoie smirked and leaned against the railing. Steven looked up at him and chuckled.   
  
“What’re you smirking about?”

“Oh, just happy to see this moment again.”   
  
“Yeah? Where she proposes?”   
  
“Mhmm. Any minute now she’ll ride up in her cowboy outfit and sweep Sapphire off her feet.”   
  
Steven looked back out to the beach. 

In the distance, a dolphin jumped up from the water. Steven smiled. He hadn’t seen a dolphin in person before.. Why was there only one out there?   
  
The dolphin launched into action. It swam in circles while doing complicated flips and dives, chattering, diving deep so it could jump high when breaching the water, twisting it’s body into water-bound elegant poses, and splashing water impressively.

Steven squinted. Since when were dolphins… So elegant? And... red?

“Holy shit.” Twoie said.

Ruby, shapeshifted into a red dolphin, was doing aerial tricks and blowing water into the shape of a heart. Sapphire watched in confusion and awe before Ruby finally jumped out of the water, shapeshifted back, and landed in front of Sapphire.

Sapphire gasped and giggled as some water misted her. Ruby smirked and slowly stood up. She had a seashell tucked prettily into her afro. She walked to Sapphire.   
  
“Someone else told us we were the answer, but... I don’t believe that anymore.”   
  
She stopped, holding out her hand.   
  
“At least, not until I hear it from you.”

Sapphire took her hand timidly and Ruby dropped to one knee, water flying from her body and glistening.

“Sapphire **_,_ ** will you marry me?”   
  
Ruby opened her other hand, revealing a clam with a shiny pearl affixed to a rusted ring in it’s mouth.   
  
“What??” Sapphire laughed, eye sparkling. “ _ Marry _ you??”   
  
“Yeah!” Ruby beamed. “This way: we can be together, even when we’re apart! This time: Garnet will be  _ our _ decision! What’d’ya say?”   
  
Sapphire beamed and laughed.   
  
“Of  _ course _ !”

Ruby squealed in delight and put the ring on Sapphire’s finger. She giggled and hugged her. Sapphire laughed and hugged her back.    
  
“I love you, Sapphy.”   
  
“I love you, too, Ruby.” 

Steven wiped his eyes. “That was so beautiful.”   
  
Twoie chuckled. “Wow.”

Pearl smiled, watching fondly. Amethyst was the same.   
  
“Wait, dad..” Twoie stood up. “H.. did Ruby-- how did she come up with the idea of marrying her without being a cowboy?”   
  
“A cowboy?” Greg tilted his head. “Uh… I don’t know. One night she just came up to me and we read comics.. She really liked the one about the dolphin and after this whole  _ ocean adventure  _ we just talked about what she wanted and... I brought up marriage as an option.”   
  
“Huh.” Twoie looked out at the couple, who were now heading back. He smiled.

“Hey, guys!” Ruby said, at the top of the steps with Sapphire in her arms. “You won’t believe the day I had!”   
  
“I bet.” Pearl said.    
  
Sapphire and Ruby giggled. Ruby kissed her cheek and Sapphire snorted, pushing her away playfully. “C’mon, not in front of the kids..”   
  
“Oh, you love it.” Ruby snickered, heading inside and kissing all over Sapphire’s face. Steven covered his eyes and Twoie turned away, face red.

They all headed inside and sat near the newly wed couple. 

“How’d you find this?” Sapphire asked, holding up her hand with the ring.   
  
“I made it!” Ruby said. “I was swimming around and I saw a pearl laying on the ocean floor.. It was so pretty so I decided to keep it! Then, after I decided I wanted to marry you, I searched around and found some brass knuckles! Which I broke apart into this ring!”   
  
Sapphire kissed her cheek. “You’re so creative.”   
  
“Hehe. Thank you.”

“So..” Sapphire hummed. “How do we.. get married?”   
  
Steven gasped. “OH! Oh! I have a plan! Hold on!”   
  
He ran upstairs and opened his closet, taking out his giant wedding planner and heading back down. He dropped it on the desk with a thud.    
  
“This is just to give you some ideas! There are printing styles here..” He opened up to that section. “Wedding decorations here.. Outfits, music, theme.. Oh, and Twoie predicted you’d want a ‘dolphins and flames’ theme, so..”   
  
He opened up to page 135. “Ta-da!”   
  
“How long did it take you to put this together?” Sapphire asked.   
  
“My entire life.”

“This is gonna be the best wedding ever!!” Ruby cheered. 

**\----------**

After a lot of conversation about invitations, theme, and other wedding related concerns, they had started to write and sign the envelopes. Pearl folded them, Ruby and Sapphire signed them, Peridot stuffed, and Amethyst licked. 

“Ugh, we’ve been stuffing these envelopes all  _ day _ .” Peridot groaned, handing another to Amethyst. “How many does this make?”   
  
Amethyst licked it and slapped it down on a stack of envelopes. “Ten!”

Sapphire frowned. “Oh. Just.. ten. Hm.”   
  
Steven glanced at her, concerned.

**\----------**

Amethyst and Pearl finished setting up the chairs on the beach, and Steven and Twoie had done a wonderful job decorating. Currently, Steven was with Ruby and Sapphire.    
  
“Okay, so.. My dad will do the music, then next you’ll do the ‘I do’s, and then I’ll say ‘I now pronounce you Garnet!’. Aaaaand then you fuse! Everyone’ll cheer!”

“Everyone who.. Survived.” Sapphire mumbled.   
  
“Huh?” Ruby looked over.   
  
“Oh- it’s just-” Sapphire sighed. “There are so many old friends who won’t be able to come… all the Crystal Gems who are.. Corrupted and bubbled in the basement.”

“Maybe we could.. Bring the bubbles up here..?” Ruby suggested, holding Sapphire’s hands.

“No, no.. it’s too risky.”

Twoie frowned, thumbing the inside of his jacket as Ruby and Sapphire hugged.   
  
“...”

Later, inside, Steven was looking over music that could play for the first dance with Twoie.   
  
“So.. I was thinking something slow and romantic? When Ruby and Sapphire fuse, it’s very intimate and slow.. So.. to fuse, I’m sure they’d want something that matches their dancing.. But.. if Garnet’s already fused, then she can’t do the first dance.. But I don’t want any surprises for Sour Cream.. What do you think?”   
  
He turned to Twoie. Twoie was looking off at the temple door and his brows were furrowed in. He frowned tightly.

“... Twoie?”   
  
Twoie didn’t respond.   
  
Steven tapped him. Twoie flinched and looked at Steven.   
  
“What? What is it?”   
  
“Um.. I was asking about the music for the first dance..?”   
  
“Oh, uh..” Twoie blushed. “Sorry, I wasn't listening.”   
  
“Yeah. Um. What’s wrong?”   
  
“Nothing.”   
  
“It wasn’t nothing. You looked.. Really nervous. Is something going to happen at the wedding?”   
  
“No, I don’t think so. But, um..”   
  
He sighed.   
  
“What Sapphire said.. It bugged me.”   
  
Steven frowned. “Mm.. yeah. It’s sad that her friends aren’t here..” He tapped his pen against his chin absentmindedly. “Not much we can do, though.. We don't know how to heal them.”   
  
Twoie nodded. “...”   
  
“...”   
  
Twoie gulped. “But.. what if.. I could bring one back?”   
  
Steven stared at him. “Can you?”   
  
“W-well.. No. But… Well, maybe. It’s--” He groaned. “Would it be bad for me to,  _ hypothetically _ , keep that certain gem bubbled away, when she could actually attend the wedding?”   
  
“Yes!”   
  
“Even if that gem is dangerous?”   
  
_ “What’s this about bringing someone back?”  _ Sapphire asked. _  
_   
Steven and Twoie looked up. Sapphire was in the doorway, Ruby right behind her. Twoie gulped. “Um.”   
  
“Can you really heal them?” Ruby asked, coming in. “Can you?”   
  
“No.”   
  
“Don’t lie to me!” Sapphire huffed. “I heard you talking about healing a gem!”   
  
Twoie looked away. “I can’t heal them. But.. I might.. Know where.. A friend of yours is. Uncorrupted. Bubbled away.”   
  
“What..?” Ruby gasped. “W-who?”   
  
“...”   
  
“Who.” Sapphire repeated, ice shimmering around her feet.   
  


“It’s dangerous to bring her back.”   
  
“Why? If she’s not corrupted, it should be fine!” Sapphire said. “I-- All this time, you knew where she was, and you didn’t tell us?”   
  
“She’s dangerous!”   
  
“Who. is. it.”   
  
“...” Twoie sighed and buried his face in his hands. “Bismuth.”   
  
Ruby gasped. Sapphire furrowed her brow in thought and confusion.   
  
“Bismuth? But wasn’t she.. Shattered?”   
  
“No.” Twoie said. “She wasn’t. She was bubbled.”   
  
“That’s great!” Ruby cheered. “She can come to the wedding!”   
  
Twoie ran his hands through his hair. “She’s dangerous..”   
  
“Dangerous?” Sapphire asked, offended. “How?? She’s our  _ friend _ !”   
  
“... She’s dangerous. To Steven.”   
  
Ruby frowned. “Why would--”   
  
“Steven has Rose’s gem.”   
  
A silence fell over the group.

“... She’ll come around.” Sapphire said. “I need her back. Please. I.. It’s been so long..”   
  
“Five thousand three hundred years..” Ruby murmured.   
  
Twoie gulped. “... I guess I can’t say no.”   
  
Steven looked up. “... But- if.. If she’s dangerous..”   
  
Twoie looked away. “I know.”   
  
Sapphire scoffed. “You guys don’t know her like I do. She’d never hurt a fellow Crystal Gem.”   
  
Twoie mumbled something under his breath.

“What was that?” Sapphire glared.   
  
Twoie blushed. “U-uh.. I said: is it that important that we can put Steven at risk?”   
  
“He won’t be at risk.”   
  
Ruby placed a hand on Twoie’s leg. “Trust me, Sapphy’s stubborn, she won’t let this go.”   
  
“Hey!” Sapphire pouted. “I’m not stubborn!”   
  
Ruby snorted. Sapphire chuckled back. “Okay, maybe a little stubborn..”   
  
“Do I have to--”   
  
“Yes!”

Twoie sighed and nodded. He went upstairs, to where Lion was laying, and dove in. Steven opened his mouth to speak, but was cut off.   
  
“We should go find the others.” Sapphire said. “They’ll want to meet her.”

“Got it.” Ruby gave her a thumbs up and left with her.   
  
Twoie got out of Lion, holding a bubble with Bismuth’s gem inside. He hopped down to the first floor.   
  
“Is that her?” Steven asked. Twoie nodded. “M-mhmm.”   
  
Steven sat down and patted the spot next to him for Twoie. “Twoie, you don’t have to do this.. I.. I can see how uncomfortable you are, and if she’s really dangerous…”   
  
Twoie sighed and looked down.   
  
“... Sapphire needs her. Garnet needs her. The gems will love her.”   
  
“... You’re sacrificing your happiness for her.”   
  
Twoie paled.    
  
Steven smiled. “What? I learned a thing or two from your talks.”   
  
Twoie groaned. “Ugh. You’re right.. And I don’t  _ want to _ .”   
  
“Then maybe we can talk this out!”   
  
“... Sapphire seems pretty d-dead set on her being let out.”   
  
“We can change her mind.”   
  
Twoie glanced at him, then down at Bismuth. He cradled the bubble in his hands and gulped, shutting his eyes.   
  
“... Maybe you’re right.” He smiled weakly at him. “M-maybe I don’t--”   
  
“ _ **BISMUTH** **!?”** _Pearl burst in. Twoie jumped, the bubble floated up and Pearl grabbed it. 

“Oh my stars, it really is her!” She gasped, tears springing to her eyes.   
  
Steven got up. “Guys, wait--”   
  
“I know!” Ruby beamed. “Oh, I can’t wait to see her again! It’s been so long!”   
  
“G-guys..” Twoie mumbled, looking up.   
  
“Let her out!” Sapphire said. Pearl nodded and popped the bubble. Twoie whimpered and looked down, shutting his eyes tightly. Steven sighed shakily.

They all backed up as Bismuth’s gem floated into the air, then formed into her and she landed down on the wood floor with a loud crack. She stood up, backing away with terror in her eyes. She looked around.   
  
“.. wha..”   
  
“Bismuth!” Pearl cried, throwing herself around her. Bismuth held her back, confused. Ruby and Sapphire held her too, crying.

Twoie got up and moved farther away. He looked up at Bismuth, wary.   
  
“What’s.. Going on?” Bismuth looked around. “Where am I?”   
  
“Oh, Bismuth.. You were bubbled!” Pearl said. “We- we thought you were captured! Or worse: shattered.”   
  
“Shatter me?” Bismuth chuckled. “No way.. Homeworld couldn’t lay a scratch on this gem!” She backed away a little and glanced around. “Wow.. huh.. I must’ve been out for a while, last I remember I was in the forge.. Is this a new base?”   
  
She kicked at a wood plank. “Who’s terrible idea was it to use  _ wood _ ?!”   
  
“Um.” Sapphire frowned.   
  
Bismuth looked up and gasped.   
  
“Oh! New recruits?” She moved towards Twoie and Steven. Twoie tensed. Steven held out his hand. “Um. Heya. I-I’m Steven!”   
  
“Hey, Steven!” Bismuth smiled. “Huh, I didn’t know we were recruiting humans.. But any power is good power! And what’s your name?” She stood up, looking at Twoie. Twoie gulped.   
  
“Call me Twoie.”   
  
“Twoie! Nice to meet ‘ya!” She put out a hand. Twoie shook it.

“Ahem!” Amethyst cleared her throat. Bismuth smiled. “Ah! An Amethyst! Hello!” She made her way over and shook her hand, too. “Wow.. so many new recruits! How much did I  _ miss?” _   
  
Pearl bit her lip. “Oh.. you.. Missed quite a lot. I’m so sorry, Bismuth, we would’ve let you out sooner, but we didn’t know you were still around!”   
  
Bismuth frowned. “Didn’t know? Wait-- where was my bubble?”   
  
“It was in my lion!” Steven said, pointing to him. Bismuth stared at Lion. “Huh.. why…”   
  
“I guess Rose must’ve found you at some point and didn’t get to let you out before..” Pearl trailed off.   
  
Bismuth’s eyes went wide. “Rose? W-wait.. Where is Rose?”   
  
Silence.   
  
Steven opened his mouth to speak. Twoie spoke first.   
  
“She’s dead.”   
  
Bismuth paled. “She was.. Shattered?”   
  
“No.” Twoie stood up. “She gave up her physical form to make.. Um.. Steven.”   
  
Steven lifted his shirt. Bismuth leaned down. “Whoa..”   
  
“She turned into me.” Steven supplied.   
  
“She gave you her gem.” Twoie corrected. “She isn’t you. She’s dead.”   
  
Bismuth frowned. “Um.. do.. You know me, Steven? Rose?”   
  
“No. I-I’m sorry.” Steven bit his lip. “She gave me her gem, but I don’t have any of her memories..”   


“It’s not always easy to understand Rose’s choices,” Pearl sighed. “But we have to stand behind them.”   
  
Bismuth stared at Steven’s gem.    
  
“Huh.. Rose really is something else.. I mean, look at this! She  _ really _ is something else!” Bismuth laughed. “Wow! Everything’s changing!” She looked around. “Heh.. And where’s everybody else?”   
  
“Gone.” Twoie said before anyone could speak.   
  
“What?” Bismuth paled.   
  
“The Diamonds launched an attack on the Earth, corrupting all except for Pearl, Rose, Garnet, and Amethyst.”   
  
“I wasn’t there!” Amethyst said.   
  
“Oh, sorry.” Twoie blushed. “But.. they’re monsters now. It’s impossible to heal them at the moment, but we’re working towards.. Getting them back to themselves.”   
  
Bismuth sat down on the couch, putting a hand to her forehead. “...”   
  
Sapphire shot Twoie a look. Twoie bit his lip. “Sorry, too blunt?” He whispered. Sapphire nodded. Twoie looked down in shame.

“I’m sorry, Bismuth.” Pearl sat down next to her. “It’s.. been about 5,300 years.. I..” She hugged her. “... We’ll bring them back. Someday, we’ll bring them back. I know we will.”   
  
“Where are they?”   
  
“In the basement.” Sapphire said. “Bubbled away.”   
  
“Mm.” Bismuth frowned. “So.. did we lose?”   
  
“No.” Pearl said. “We didn’t. Homeworld still has it’s eyes on this planet: we’re still fighting.”   
  
“Still!?” Bismuth stood up. “That’s-- that’s--” She groaned and kicked a plank right out of the floor. “I knew those Homeworld elites were twisted, but  _ this!? _ ” She stomped on the floor, yanking at her hair. “This is-- this--”   
  
She sniffled, wiping her eyes. “I can’t believe..”   
  
Pearl, Ruby, and Sapphire gathered around, hugging her. Steven joined in. Amethyst did too.   


Bismuth waved them off after a moment. “Alright, alright.. Enough feeling sorry for myself. It’s time to show those upper crusts who’s BOSS! Show them what happens when you mess with the Crystal Gems!”   
  
She pounded her fist into her palm, huffing.   
  
“Well, actually..” Ruby held up an invitation.   
  
“What?” Bismuth looked down. “What’s this?”   
  
“We.. we brought you back to invite you to our wedding.” Sapphire said.   
  
“...” Bismuth opened up the letter and read it. She smiled. “Wow.. I.. uh.. Don’t know what to say..”   
  
“You could be the maid of honour!” Ruby said.   
  
“... Thank you.” Bismuth nodded. “But.. what’s a.. Wedding?”   
  
“Oh.” Sapphire blanked. She snorted. “Oh, yeah, you don’t.. Oh, how to explain..”   
  
“Allow me!” Steven piped up. “Marriage is when two people vow to spend the rest of their lives together! And then they wear rings to show that they’re committed to each other!”   
  
“It’s a celebration of love.” Sapphire purred.

“Yeah!” Ruby said. “Making a moment’s decision.. Last a lifetime.” She held Sapphire’s hand and kissed her.  
  
“Aww..” Bismuth smiled. “Of course I’ll come!”  
  
“Great! Because it’s tomorrow!” Ruby said. “Um. so.. Make yourself at home! We gotta deliver the invites!”  
  
“Oh, okay!” Bismuth nodded. “Um, see you around!”  
  
“Bye!~” They both left.  
  
Pearl smiled. “Bismuth, can we go to my room? I wanna catch up.”  
  
“Sure!”  
  
Twoie’s eyes widened, catching Pearl’s gaze and pleading silently. Pearl gave him a reassuring look while Bismuth was ahead and mouthed ‘I won’t tell her. Not yet.’ Twoie sighed in relief and let them go.  
  
“... Bismuth seems nice!” Steven said. “How is she dangerous?”  
  
Twoie shrugged. “Hopefully, you won’t find out.”  
  
Steven frowned. “Should I.. not be around her?”  
  
“Don’t be around her _alone_. But other than that, she’s fine.” Twoie smiled. “Heh. I dunno why I was so scared.. I mean, I’m a little tense but.. This is still _Bismuth._ And Bismuth’s great.”  
  
Steven smiled. “Yeah.”  
  
“... You wanna go watch some Lonely Blade?”  
  
“Yeah!”  
  
**\----------**

When it was time for the wedding, everyone gathered on the beach. Bismuth was in her shiniest armor, Pearl, Amethyst, Steven and Twoie were in tuxes. Sapphire stood at the altar with Steven as the priest. 

“You nervous?” Steven whispered to her. Sapphire smiled. “I’m not.” She kicked away some ice at her feet. 

Coming down the aisle was Greg, strumming a nice melody on his guitar, Connie, Pearl, Bismuth, Amethyst and Peridot. Peridot wore a frilly yellow dress and held a basket of flowers.    
  
“Flowers for you!” She yelled, chucking a bundle at someone. “Flowers for you! And flowers for YOU!”   
  
She threw the bundle at Ronaldo, knocking him out of his chair.   
  
“WEDDING COMMANDER, ALL FLOWERS HAVE BEEN DEPLOYED.” She curtsied. Steven chuckled nervously. “Thanks.. Peridot.”   
  
From out of the house came Ruby, in a white dress with flowers tucked into her afro. Sapphire blushed and stared at her, parting her bangs. Ruby smiled, eyes watery. She grinned and sprinted down the stairs. 

Greg picked up the pace of the music. Ruby quickened, burning footprints into the steps. Greg sped up. Ruby turned into a ball of flame, dashing to the altar and then extinguishing.

Amethyst ran out and stomped out the flames.

Steven cleared his throat.   
  
“Dearly Beloved: Gems, Humans, Hybrids, Lions big and small, living gourds, Onion. We are gathered here today to celebrate Ruby and Sapphire: two of my favourite people, who combine into one of my other favourite people! You all probably know her as Garnet, she is their love, given form.”   
  
He stepped back.

“Now it’s your turn to talk about that.”   
  
Ruby blushed, electing to speak first. 

“I know this is all kinda silly. I mean, we’ve been together for 5,750 years!”   
  
“And eight months.” Sapphire added.

“I used to feel like.. I wasn’t much good: one of me on my own. But, when we’re together, it feels like.. It’s okay to just be me. So I wanna be me, with you! A-and not even Homeworld will come between us! And if they try, we’ll beat them up!” She jumped into the air, kicking and punching. Sapphire chuckled.

“Ruby. My future used to look like one, single, obvious, stream: unbending ‘til the end of time. In an instant, you pulled me from that destiny, and opened my eye to an explosion of infinite possible futures: streaking across space and time, altered and obliterated by the smallest force of will!”

Ruby and Steven stared at her in awe. Sapphire blushed.   
  
“What I mean is.. You changed my life. And then I changed your life. And now, we change  _ our _ lives.” 

Steven called out. “Bismuth, the rings!”   
  
Bismuth wiped her tears, sniffling and handing them the rings she made. Copper and silver. Ruby slid Sapphire’s on for her and Sapphire did the same. 

“Ruby, do you take this gem, to have and to hold, on this and every other planet in the universe?!”   


“I do!”   
  
“And Sapphire--”   
  
“Yes.” 

Steven crossed his arms. “You didn’t let me finish!”   
  
“I’m just very excited.” Sapphire said sheepishly. Steven chuckled.

“Then by the power vested in me by the state of Delmarva… I now pronounce you: Garnet!”

Ruby and Sapphire kissed. Ruby dipped Sapphire, then spun her around as they enveloped in a warm light. They beamed, melting into each other until Garnet stood, proud and full of joy.

Everyone cheered. Twoie wiped his eyes and Steven just let himself cry of joy.

Later in the evening, after drinks and food, the dance floor was filled with people. Garnet doing her own happy jig in the middle. 

Steven was at the punch bowl, sipping from his red solo cup and watching as Twoie awkwardly danced with Sour Cream. 

“Steven!” Garnet beamed, picking him up. Steven allowing himself to be scooped up. 

“Hey, Garnet!” He laughed. 

“Thanks for everything.” They said in unison. They laughed. “This is great.” They said together again, and laughed. 

“Oh, what a wonderful idea.” Garnet mused, looking out at the crowd. “Humans found a way to make a moment’s decision last forever. I don’t need future vision to know I’ll always remember this.”

Out of the corner of his eye, Steven saw Bismuth catch the bouquet from earlier. 

He smiled and leaned against Garnet.    
  
“I’m so glad.”

Garnet kissed his forehead. “Thank you. For everything.”   
  
Steven chuckled and kissed her cheek. “Of course!”   
  
“I’m gonna go keep dancing.” Garnet said, placing him down and ruffling his hair. “Talk to you later, Steven.”   
  
“Bye, Garnet!”   
  
Garnet went off to the dancefloor.   
  
Twoie walked over and sighed heavily. “Wow.. Sour Cream is  _ very _ energetic.”   
  
“What do you mean?”   
  
“He tried to teach me how to rave.. It’s a  _ lot _ of flailing your arms around and jumping.”   
  
He scooped himself some punch and gulped it down. “He’s fun, though. I can’t believe we’re, like, the same age now.”

“Huh? Oh!” Steven nodded. “That’s right, huh? You’re the same age as the cool kids..”   
  
“Yeah.” Twoie smiled. “I wonder if.. They’d be okay with me hanging out with them. I never really got to do any ‘teenage antics’.”   
  
“Teenage antics?” Steven tilted his head. “Like what?”   
  
“Oh, like the stuff in movies! Like.. uh..”   
  
He frowned.   
  
“Well, actually, most of those things suck. I don’t wanna do anything bad. Mayyybeee one illegal thing, but that’s it.”   
  
“Big goals.” Steven snarked. Twoie scoffed in mock offense and ruffled his hair roughly. “Rude!”   
  
Steven laughed. He looked up after a moment and set down his drink.   
  
“Wanna dance?”   
  
“Oh, you know I can’t--”   
  
“Weren’t you just with Sour Cream?”   
  
“I wasn’t doing much.. And that was raving! Not dancing..”   
  
“Well, I’m getting you over your fear of dancing  _ tonight _ . C’mon!” Steven tugged him along to the dancefloor. Twoie tried to resist, but Steven was persistent. He led him out, on the periphery of the floor and held his hands.   
  
“Okay, let’s dance!”   
  
He broke off and started dancing freely to the music. Twoie stood there, glancing around and shrinking. Steven huffed.   
  
“What’re you afraid of? Nobody here will judge you! They’re all friends.”

“Friends can judge you.”   
  
Steven frowned. “... Do you  _ want _ to dance?”   
  
“Yeah. I love dancing.”   
  
“Then do it!”   
  
“It’s not.. That easy.. I mean.. If I do it poorly, then I’m weird, but if I try too hard, it’s also weird! S-so the best thing is to just not dance.”

Steven held his hand. Twoie looked down.   
  
“Don’t worry about them. Don’t worry about anything right now except for the music, and me.”   
  
Twoie snickered. 

Steven squeezed his hand. “I’m serious. C’mon. Just.. let go.”   
  
Twoie sighed. “... Fine. I- I’ll try. But.. can you.. Dance with me? Lead? I- I don’t wanna be alone.”   
  
“Of course!”   
  
Steven started to dance, and Twoie joined in, keeping his eyes away from the crowd. When his gaze started to drift to the others, Steven would grab his hand and tug him out of it. 

Eventually, Twoie was dancing and relaxed, letting his body go with the flow and match Steven. Steven felt pride swell up in his chest and he started to laugh. Twoie laughed too and bent down, holding Steven’s hands and twirling them. Soon, there was a flash of light and Mega Steven froze on the dance floor.   
  
The people nearest to them stared. Lars choked on his drink.   
  
Mega Steven shrank.   
  
“O-oh. I-I’m sorry, uh--”   
  
Garnet began to walk over. Mega Steven backed up.    
  
“Garnet! I-I’m so sorry! I didn’t mean to, I don’t wanna intrude--”   
  
Garnet placed a hand on his shoulder. Mega Steven stared at her.   
  
“The more the merrier.” 

Mega Steven beamed. “Y-you don’t mind?”   
  
“Not at all! Everyone’s free to fuse if they like. I’d love seeing them.” She kissed his forehead. “I’m glad you two are having fun.”   
  
Mega Steven smiled sheepishly. “Me too.”   
  
Garnet walked off and the party resumed. But now Pearl was dancing with Bismuth and Amethyst. She got very close to Bismuth and Bismuth spinned her around. The party cheered when their fusion appeared.

Stevonnie made an appearance as well, after Mega Steven noticed her standing idle. Steven and Connie did a great dance and stayed fused for almost the entire night.

As the moon rose, the wedding came to a close. Everyone said goodbye to Garnet, congratulating her and then heading off. Garnet appreciated their attendance and sat back after all the townsfolk had left.   
  
“I’ve never been happier.”   


Steven smiled. “I’m glad.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> btw for context: Ruby was originally gonna b a dolphin in the original ep but steven was the one who suggested cowboy. So that's why she's a dolphin lol
> 
> Please leave a comment if you enjoyed!!


	20. Bismuth

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bismuth gets better acquainted with Twoie and Steven while catching up with her old friends. Twoie is unsure how to feel about this new arrival.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> tw// blood, some violence (nothing graphic)

Bismuth ended up sleeping in Pearl’s room, since the couch was called for and the two hybrids needed the bathroom. It gave her and Pearl a lot of time to catch up, which was nice. Steven was very glad Bismuth was out of her bubble and reunited with the gems. He didn’t know why Twoie said she was dangerous, she was great! And very understanding of the whole ‘time travel’ situation. Maybe the timeline had changed and she was good now?

Although, this training session was very scary.

Steven flinched as Bismuth shattered a large boulder in front of him, the pieces flying around her arm-hammer as she let out a battle cry. He gulped down his soda and shuddered. Twoie stared at her, cheeks tinted the slightest bit of pink.

“Steven! Come down and show me what you’re made of!” She called up. Steven chuckled nervously. 

“Uh, I would, but this is a little intense for me..”  
  
“Twoie, what about you?”  
  
Twoie tensed and shook his head. “I’m good!”  
  
“Well, you should be great! Come down and train! It’s a ritual for us Crystal Gems to spar before battle!”  
  
“Well, actually, I have some rituals I like a little better.” Steven smiled.

“Oh, yeah? Let me see ‘em!”  
  
Steven got up and nodded. “Okay!”  
  
They spent the rest of the day doing Steven’s rituals together. Which, turned out to be just games and fun. Badminton, cards, baking, and watching his favourite show: Lonely Blade.

They all gathered around the TV with their freshly baked pizza, chowing down. Even Twoie joined in, which Steven was glad for. He didn’t really hang out with Bismuth much the whole day, skipping their activities and warping somewhere else.

 _“The powerful, legendary, demon blade, possessed by Muramasa...”_ Lonely Blade mused to himself, holding a red katana. _“With this demon blade, I will be the most powerful fighter in all the world!”_

“No, Lonely Blade! Don’t use it!” Steven begged the TV. Bismuth huffed. 

_“Whaaaat??_ If that thing’s got infinite power, of COURSE he should use it! It just makes sense!”  
  
“Yeah, but it’ll corrupt him.” Twoie said. “It’ll make him evil.”  
  
“Oh.” Bismuth hummed. “Shitty sword, then. Why would you make a sword be cursed?”  
  
Steven gasped. “You swore!!”

Bismuth quirked a brow. “Uh, yeah? And?”  
  
Pearl crossed her arms. “Bismuth, we don’t swear around human children. It’s considered bad.”  
  
“But they’re hybrids.”  
  
“Then we don’t swear around _hybrid_ children either.”  
  
Bismuth shrugged. “Alright. Can’t promise I won’t slip up, though.”  
  
Steven chuckled and turned back to the TV. “Man.. I wish I had a cool sword like Lonely Blade..”  
  
Bismuth hummed. “I could make you one.”  
  
Steven gasped. “What??”  
  
“I could make you one. We could-- oh!!” Bismuth swallowed her pizza and stood up. “The forge!! I have something in the forge for you all! I can’t believe I forgot!”  
  
“Oh, really??” Pearl asked, grinning. “Well, that’s great! We should head down right now! I can’t wait to see it after all this time.”

“Uhhh what’s a forge?” Amethyst asked.  
  
“You’ll see.” Bismuth winked, hopping down to the warp pad. “C’mon, Crystal Gems! To the forge!”  
  
“Okay!” Steven paused the show and followed. Everyone was on the warp, except for Twoie.

“Twoie?” Steven called. “C’mon!”  
  
Twoie bit his lip. “.... Do I have to?”  
  
Bismuth chuckled. “Only if you want a cool weapon!”  
  
Twoie looked at them, as if analyzing something, then sighed and hopped down onto the warp with them, keeping close to Steven. He put his hand in his hair and moved his fingers through the curls. Steven chuckled.

They warped into a cool, dark, canyon, smoke pouring out of the ring of volcanoes surrounding them. Below the walkway was a large, black, abyss, jagged rocks filled with ore inside. Steven looked around in awe. Twoie’s cheeks were light pink again, but faint.

“Is this the forge?” Steven asked. Bismuth chuckled. “Not yet. Follow me.”  
  
Steven glanced around again after a few minutes. “Iiiiiis this the forge?”  
  
“Ugh, don’t ask me.” Amethyst said. “I’ve never been here before.”

Pearl piped up. “Well, since Bismuth was gone, we’ve had no reason to come back here.”  
  
“Let’s just say this place ain’t the same without me.” Bismuth smirked. 

Steven’s eyes sparkled. “What does THAT mean!? Amethyst, what do you think that means??”  
  
Amethyst rolled her eyes. “I dunno, dude, I’ve never seen this place. Look cool, though.”

“We took a huge blow from Homeworld. But, now, we’re back in Bismuth!” Bismuth grinned, pointing to herself and looking back at the group. Pearl smiled fondly, Garnet snoofed, Amethyst chuckled. Steven laughed.  
  
“She’s got jokes!”  
  
Twoie glanced off to the side.

They arrived at a large gray block in the side of the abyss.  
  
“Is this the forge?” Steven asked. 

“Not quite!~” Pearl chirped. 

Bismuth stood in front of the gray block and shut her eyes, focusing her energy on her gem. It glowed and the ground shook beneath them. Steven and Amethyst wobbled around before the shaking finally came to it’s acme in the block. It split open vertically, then horizontally, and repeated until it was a tunnel, leading into the forge, shaped like Bismuth’s gem.

“Ta-da!” Bismuth smiled. 

“Wow!” Amethyst gasped. Steven beamed. “Now, THAT’S an entrance!”  
  
“Bravo, Bismuth!” Pearl clapped. Bismuth blushed and waved them off humbly before heading inside. They all followed close behind, Twoie at the back of the group.

Inside was a large forge, with weaponry hanging from the ceiling in chains, from the walls on hooks, and some strewn about in corners. Swords, Rapiers, Maces, Spears, Flails, and other weaponry. In the center of the room was an anvil with a star engraved into the front in orange. In the corner were some bins with materials like copper, gold, iron, and silver for Bismuth to craft with. In the back there was a thin slit on the wall over a grate with lava beneath it.  
  
Steven wiped his brow. “Wow, it’s like an oven in here!”  
  
“You think it’s hot NOW?” Bismuth asked, smirking.

“Yeah, like an oven.”

Bismuth laughed and shifted her arm into a hammer.  
  
“Well, it’s about to get WAYYYY hotter!”

She slammed down onto a pedestal by the lava grate. From the slit in the wall, a lavafall poured down onto her body. 

The lava flowed throughout the forge in the walls, lighting up the place.

“Cool…” Steven awed.

Twoie tensed up, taking off his jacket and tying it around his waist.

Bismuth exited the lavafall, throwing her dreadlocks back and sighing.  
  
“Nothing like a hot lava bath to get you in the working mood.”  
  
She grabbed some materials from the bins. Steven followed close behind.

“Sooo what exactly do you do here?”

“Homeworld used us Bismuths to erect spires and temples for the Gem _elites_ to enjoy.”  
  
She sank her hand into the lava, hardening the iron into a bar. She tossed it onto the anvil and raised her hammerhand. 

“But Rose taught me my life was my _own._ That I could _choose_ to do _whatever_ I wanted!”  
  
She slammed down on the iron, flattening it into a blade. She grabbed the blade and attached a hilt, then sank it into the lava and pulled it up while still flaming.  
  
“So I chose this.”  
  
“Bismuth..” Steven gasped. “You make weapons!?”  
  
“That’s right!” She said, handing the katana to Steven. “I outfitted the _entire_ rebellion. Every material weapon used by the Crystal Gems was made right here in this forge.”  
  
She looked to a chest on the wall. “Now, let me get y'all my surprise!”

Steven went over to Amethyst and Twoie, holding up his blade.  
  
“Isn’t this cool!? It looks exactly like the demon sword!”  
  
Amethyst shrugged. “Yeah.. It is pretty cool. Y’know, I didn’t really trust Bismuth when she first came out but… outfitting the entire rebellion.. She’s a true Crystal Gem, y’know?”  
  
Twoie nodded and sighed. “Yeah.. seeing her so passionate like this makes me happy.”  
  
Steven beamed. So the timeline HAD changed! Bismuth was good! If Twoie wasn’t worried, he shouldn’t be either. 

“So, what about you?”  
  
“Huh?” Steven turned.  
  
Bismuth was standing with Pearl and Garnet, who had modified weapons. Pearl’s spear was a trident and Garnet’s gauntlets had spikes on the knuckles.  
  
“I was speaking to Amethyst.” Bismuth clarified. “But I’ll get to you two in a bit.”  
  
“What about me?” Amethyst asked.  
  
“Show me your weapon!”  
  
“Uh, okay.” She pulled out her whip.  
  
“Oh, wow..” Bismuth murmured, bending down.  
  
“What is it?” Amethyst frowned.  
  
“Well… not every Quartz can make a whip like this. You mind if I take a look?”  
  
“Sure.” Amethyst smiled, handing it over. 

Bismuth walked off, digging around in another chest.  
  
“Ah! Here.” She said, coming back and handing Amethyst her whip. “With this, you can really do some damage.”  
  
Amethyst whipped it onto the ground. The whip split into three different ends, with spike balls on the end of each. Steven stared at the weapon uneasily. Damage? They shouldn’t be hurting anyone beyond a simple, hopefully painless, poof…  
  
Amethyst seemed to be ecstatic, however, and started whipping her whip around, laughing. “Bismuth’s the BEST!”  
  
Steven frowned. 

“Alright, you got your sword…” Bismuth pointed to Steven. “But what about you, Twoie?”  
  
“Huh?” Twoie snapped to attention, wiping the sweat from his brow.  
  
“What you got?”  
  
“Oh, I.. I don’t like to hurt people.” Twoie chuckled uneasily, waving his hands in a ‘no’ motion. 

Bismuth hummed. “Well, you don’t like to, but sometimes you _need_ to. C’mon, show me your weapon.”  
  
Twoie sighed and summoned his sheild. Bismuth frowned. “Oh.. not much I can do with that..”  
  
“Yeah..” Twoie said.

“Hm.. anything else?”  
  
Twoie unsummoned it and then made his bubble boxing gloves appear with spikes. Bismuth gasped and rushed over.  
  
“Wow!! That’s like a.. A..”  
  
“I call them my bubble boxing gloves..” Twoie chuckled. “Though, I usually just do it like this--” The spikes shrank away. “--because I’m only using it to protect my hands.”  
  
“Hm.” Bismuth nodded. “Protection.. Well..”  
  
She lifted up his shirt. Twoie squeaked and tugged it back down. “Hey!”  
  
“Just lookin’ at your gem, big guy, don’t worry.” She patted him on the back. “I got just the thing for you, too.”  
  
“You.. do?”  
  
Bismuth nodded, walking over to the wall and lifting up a dark cuirass with shoulder plates and arm braces. It was made out of very hard metal, with stars and streaks engraved into it in gold. On the collarbone was a star. The shoulder plates were spherical, ridged at the top in gold. The arm braces flared out at the elbow, protecting the joint, and extended to the back of the hand. On the backs of the hands were stars and along the outer edge were spikes, meant to slash and defend any oncoming attacks. 

Twoie gasped and took the cuirass, looking over it. “Wow... This is.. _Beautiful_.”  
  
Bismuth grinned. “Thank you. It’ll do a great job of protecting your gem since it has extra padding in the front. I’ll make you a matching set of greaves, too, if you want.”  
  
“What’re greaves?”  
  
Bismuth chuckled and patted his back. “Pants.”

Twoie nodded, staring back down at the armor.  
  
“Now, what’s say we put these new weapons to the test!?” Bismuth cheered, pumping her fist in the air. 

“YEAH!!” Cheered Amethyst.  
  
“Bismuth, I hate to rain on your parade.. But it’s very late.” Pearl said. “Steven and Twoie need sleep.”  
  
Twoie nodded. Steven huffed. “No, I can train!”  
  
“Steven.” Pearl crossed her arms. “You can train in the morning. Plus, I don’t know how comfortable I am with you wielding a katana without armor..”  
  
“Awe!”

Bismuth shrugged. “Eh. Alright. We did do a lot today. Let’s head back. Tomorrow, we train!”

**\----------**

Back at the house, it was nighttime and Steven was in his PJs. Twoie was gone, having warped somewhere earlier. Steven didn’t bother asking where or why, he knew Twoie would be back. Bismuth and him were sitting on the couch, chatting.  
  
“So you haven’t tried sleeping?? Ever?”  
  
“No! But, I think I might tonight! I like these new _Crystal Gem_ _rituals_.” She smiled.

Steven chuckled and sighed happily.

“Y’know, usually, when I meet a new gem, they try and kill me and it takes me a long time to become friends with them! And even then, I hardly see them..”  
  
Bismuth stared at him. Steven blushed.  
  
“What I mean is.. I’m really glad you’re here.”

Bismuth smiled and pat his back. “Me, too. Glad to have another chance. So, tomorrow, you gonna show me what you on the battlefield?”

“Oh, yeah! Sure.. can’t promise I’ll be any good, though..” He sighed, taking his sword out from the shelf above them. “I.. I’m not really a swordsman.”  
  
“What about your scabbard?”  
  
“Huh?” Steven glanced at her. Bismuth’s eyes widened and she looked away. “Ah, sorry. I mean.. Your _mother’s_ scabbard.”  
  
“Oh.. well, Connie’s better at wielding it. I just.. I dunno.” He bit his lip. “I uh.. I’m not good with it. Too big.”  
  
He glanced up at Rose’s portrait.

“... I wonder what she was like; _really_ like. I’ve heard so many stories, but I can’t… can’t really get my own opinion.”  
  
Bismuth cocked her head to the side and glanced up at Rose. “... Hm. Well.. wanna hear one more?”  
Steven shrugged. “Sure. I’d like to know more about her.”  
  
Bismuth gave him an odd look before nodding.  
  
“Well… Rose Quartz changed my life. I came to Earth thinking this was _just_ another colony. Build an important arena for important fighters to fight in, build _another_ important spire for thinkers to think in-- and then, I met her.”  
  
She glanced up at Rose’s portrait. Steven followed her gaze. 

“She was just another soldier, made in the dirt, right here on Earth. But she was _different;_ and she was _different_ because she _decided_ to be. And she asked me what _I_ wanted to build-- and i’d never heard that before.”  
  
She looked down from the portrait.  
  
“And gems never hear they can be anything other than what they are, but then Rose opened our eyes!” She smiled, a determined and commemorative gleam in her eyes. 

Steven let out a small ‘heh’ and put his head in his arms, crossed on his knees. “... I’m not sure I can really.. Do all she could, though: I’m not a good fighter.”  
  
He bit his lip and grabbed the katana.  
  
“I’m really sorry, Bismuth, I don’t wanna be picky, but.. Um.. I’m _really_ not a sword fighter.. Do you.. Have another weapon I could use? Maybe armour like Twoie? B-but if this is rude, I understand, I mean, you crafted it a-and--”  
  
“Hey, slow down there.” Bismuth chuckled, putting a hand on his shoulder. “It’s alright. I got tons of weapons.”  
  
Steven smiled.  
  
“And,” Bismuth continued. “I think I got just the one for you. It’s easy to use and goes on your arm. Like a shield! But better.”

Steven grinned. “That sounds great!”  
  
“Good.” Bismuth stood. “Then let’s go down to the forge.”  
  
Steven nodded and got up.

Just then, Twoie warped in. His eyes widened when he saw Bismuth and Steven. 

“Hey, Twoie!” Steven called. “Me and Bismuth are going down to the forge for a bit. I promise I’ll be back before midnight, okay? See ‘ya!”  
  
He waved and turned to go out the door, Bismuth already opening it. Steven moved to sprint outside, but a bright pink flash whisked him back onto the warp pad in a millisecond. He blinked and looked up to see Twoie, his cheeks neon pink. His breathing was irregular and heavy. 

“Wha--” Bismuth looked down at where Steven once was and then stared up at Twoie. “Why’d you do that??”  
  
_How_ did he do that? Steven tried to get free of Twoie’s grip, but he was stuck under his arm tightly.  
  
“I.. I don’t want him down there.” Twoie said. 

Bismuth sighed and put her hands up in defense. “Hey, hey. It’s alright. I promise I won’t let him fall into the ore pit or get hit by any lava. I know humans bodies are fragile. I can handle it.”  
  
“It’s not that.”  
  
Bismuth quirked her mouth to the side and cocked her head. “... Well, It’s not ‘midnight’ yet, so..”  
  
“Not that.”  
  
Bismuth groaned. “Then what is it? What? You don’t trust me?”  
  
Twoie didn’t respond. 

Bismuth scoffed. “I don’t believe it! After the _whole day_ ? Listen, I know I just showed up, but I’m a _Crystal Gem!_ I’m not gonna do anything bad!”

Steven broke free of Twoie’s grasp. Twoie gasped and tried to grab him again, but Steven was already beside Bismuth again.  
  
“I wanna go. Bismuth is nice and.. And she wouldn’t hurt me.”

 _“You don’t know that.”_ Twoie hissed. 

Bismuth huffed out of her nose. “He can make his own decisions, Twoie.” She looked down at Steven. “C’mon, you wanna go to the forge with me?”  
  
“Yes!”  
  
“ **NO**!” Twoie shouted, the pink spreading momentarily to the rest of his face before settling back on his cheeks. “I- I know what you’re gonna do down there, you- you..” 

He shook his head. 

“Steven stays here.”

“Why don’t you trust me? I thought I was your friend in the future.” Bismuth put her hands on her hips.  
  
“You are, but--”  
  
“Then _trust your friend.”_

Twoie growled. “Bismuth--”  
  
“He can make his own decisions!” Bismuth spoke over him. “Steven wants to go to the forge, so we’re going. Right, Steven?”  
  
Steven nodded hesitantly, glancing between Bismuth and Twoie. He was sure Twoie was just being paranoid, seeing as Bismuth was a danger in the other timeline.. But she was cool here! Twoie was relaxed at the forge earlier…

“No.” Twoie said again, gritting his teeth, he took a few steps forward, now off of the warp. “Steven, come here. Now.”  
  
Bismuth rolled her eyes and scooped up Steven, heading past Twoie. “C’mon, let’s go. I got a real good surprise for you.”

Fear filled Twoie’s eyes and his face went fully pink, irises burning neon. “Wait- no--”  
  
Steven smiled tightly at Twoie as Bismuth got closer to the warp. “It’s okay, Twoie. Bismuth wouldn’t hurt me.”  
  
Bismuth smirked. Twoie started to pant, reaching out for Steven. “Steven, no--”  
  
“It’ll be okay!”  
  
**_“Steven!”_ **

“Stand down.” Bismuth glared at him.  
  
Twoie was panting heavier now and started yanking on Steven’s shirt, eyes wide and frantic. “Give him back, you fucking--”

Bismuth smacked him away. Twoie’s eyes started watering. His breathing got quicker, his hands clenched. He was still shaking uncontrollably.

“C’mon, kid.” Bismuth said, stepping onto the warp. “I’m gonna show you something that'll make you even **better** than Rose.”

**__ **

Twoie’s being was consumed with pink light. His scream echoed across the house. The shelves shook, a glass broke, the floorboards tore up, nails flying and clattering on the ground around him. Bismuth and Steven were sent flying into the wall and Steven’s face crunched as it slammed into it and he felt his nose break, blood spurting out onto his shirt as he fell down onto the ground. Beside him, he heard a distinct _crack_.

Steven slowly sat up, pressing his hand to his nose and wincing in pain. His scream was caught in his throat, and he was sure Twoie’s was burning. His eyes welled up with tears and he blinked, feeling them go down his cheeks. He spat on his hand and pressed it onto his nose. The bones cracked back into place and he groaned in pain. On his hand and now on his teeth were blood. He shuddered.

He looked up at Twoie.

Twoie was practically vibrating, he had a petrified face and a body still blindingly pink, contrasting the dark moonlit living room. He stared fearfully at Bismuth. Bismuth had gotten up, rubbing her head and glitching like static.

“I didn’t mean.. I didn’t want to crack you..” Twoie whispered, voice cracking.  
  
Bismuth glared at him.  
  
“Some friend you are.”  
  
Twoie shrank in on himself, tears streaking down his cheeks and pink only burning brighter. Around him, a dome with diamond-shaped facets started to form. Twoie frantically whisked it away and stepped over to Bismuth. “P-please, let me heal you. I didn’t want to hurt you.”  
  
“Then why’d you use _yyyyyy---_ ” Bismuth glitched. “Your power on me?”  
  
Twoie wiped his eyes.

“I- I can’t control it. I'm sorry. Please… I'm so sorry."

He stopped in front of Bismuth, hand hesitantly wavering in front of her gem.  
  
Bismuth puffed out her chest for him. Twoie licked his thumb and wiped away the crack. 

“I’m so sorry.”  
  
Bismuth sighed and shook her head. “It was.. An accident. It’s alright, Twoie.” She stood. “... If you’re so _worried_ , why don’t you come down with us?”  
  
Twoie backed up. **_“No.”_ **

Bismuth growled. 

Steven stood up. “Please, don’t fight.”  
  
Twoie glanced at him, his pink dimmed.  
  
“What’s so wrong about showing him a fucking **_WEAPON_ ** !?” Bismuth shouted. “I wouldn’t hurt Steven!”  
  
“You can show him in the m-morning, when everyone’s around.”  
  
Bismuth narrowed her eyes and formed a blade with her hand, coming closer to Twoie. “Since when are you calling the shots, kid? You’re new. You’re not even a gem- you.. You’re hardly a Crystal Gem. Hurting one of your own-- that’s the worst thing you can do.”  
  
Twoie snarled, his pink energy spiking up, making him appear larger. “Coming from you, that’s r-rich.”  
  
“What’s _that_ supposed to mean?”  
  
“GUYS!”  
  
Bismuth and Twoie turned to Steven.  
  
“Please, stop.” Steven sighed shakily. “Please.”  
  
Twoie’s aura dropped and he backed up.  
  
“I..I’m not fighting in front of Steven.”  
  
“Tch.” Bismuth rolled her eyes. “Fine. I’m going to my room. Don’t fucking talk to me until the morning.”  
  
Twoie didn’t respond as Bismuth went into Pearl’s room.  
  
Steven got up to go follow her.  
  
“Steven?” Twoie whined, pink disappearing except on his cheeks. “Where are you going?”  
  
“Bismuth’s room.”  
  
“But s--”  
  
“She’s not dangerous!” Steven yelled. “ _You’re_ dangerous! You cracked her! You broke my nose!”  
  
Twoie’s eyes widened. His pink vanished.  
  
“...” He choked and sobbed a little. “Oh my god. I.. I.. I didn’t… mean..”  
  
Steven softened. “... it hurt.”  
  
“Steven,” Twoie dropped to his knees. “I’m only trying to pr-protect you!”  
  
“But Bismuth is _safe_ . She.. you were relaxed earlier. In the forge.”  
  
“Bismuth’s going to try and shatter you.”

Steven froze.  
  
“... What?”  
  
“She’s going to t-try and shatter you. She thinks you’re Rose Quartz, the one who bubbled her. She wanted to take you down to the forge to show you the Breaking Point, a weapon made _especially_ to shatter gems. To s-shatter _Diamonds.”_

Steven felt his stomach churn, right around the end of his gem.  
  
“She tried to shatter me. It was te-terrifying.” Twoie bit his lip. “She’s a shatterer. And.. And without Rose’s scabbard by your side, you will lose. You will be shattered. I..”  
  
He fell silent, dropping his head down and wiping at his tears. 

“I never wanted to hurt you. I just.. Wanted to protect you. And.. I know that doesn’t make it okay but… I’m so sorry for losing control. I.. I haven’t gone fully pink in _years_ .”  
  
The house was silent. Steven felt out of his body currently, like this wasn’t reality. 

He swallowed the lump in his throat.  
  
“You t-think she’ll do it again? To me? In.. in Pearl’s room?”  
  
“I don’t know. I just don’t think you should be alone with her.”  
  
“... I thought.. That.. she was my friend. She.. she’s _your_ friend in the future, isn’t she?”  
  
“...” 

Twoie’s silence spoke volumes.

“... I see.” Steven looked down. “... I.. I’m going to.. Fix this.

Twoie looked up.  
  
“And I know what you’re gonna say.” Steven put up a hand. “That I don’t have to. But I want to have a good relationship with Bismuth. I like her. I don’t want to be in fear of her for the rest of my life, s-scared that she’ll turn on me. Kill me. I don’t want that. I want her around. She’s.. Nice. So, I’m gonna talk to her. I promise, I won’t let my guard down. And if she attacks, I’ll run for help.”

Twoie smiled weakly.  
  
“You’re very smart.”  
  
Steven breathed out slowly. “Thank you.”  
  
“... I’m sorry.” Twoie mumbled.  
  
“... I know. It’s... okay.” Steven said, nervously. “I.. I get it, now. But _please_ d-don’t.. Don’t.. Do that again.”  
  
“I won’t. I promise. I would never hurt you on purpose.”  
  
“I know. Goodnight, Twoie.”  
  
“Goodnight, Steven.”

Steven went into Pearl’s room.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please leave a comment if you enjoyed! :)


	21. Bismuth: Part II

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Steven and Bismuth have a talk. Steven is very tired.

Waterfalls cascaded down nonexistent pillars, the room was cold and Steven shivered. Pearl’s room wasn’t his favourite, but it was still very pretty. He just wished he didn’t have to visit under such horrible circumstances.   
  
“And then he  _ cracked _ me.”   
  
“He _**WHAT!?”**_   
  
Steven looked up. On the tallest waterfall, Bismuth sat next to Pearl, speaking to her.   
  
“I can’t believe he’d do that..” Pearl said, placing a hand on Bismuth’s arm.   
  
“I  _ know _ .”   
  
Bismuth hummed.   
  
“I think… Twoie knows something we don’t. I think he has an ulterior motive.”   
  
“What..? Twoie is Steven- Steven wouldn’t hurt us.”   
  
“Why doesn’t he trust me then? If we’re such  _ great  _ friends in the future… Why wouldn’t he just let me take Steven down to the forge? Why is he so tense when I’m around?”   
  
“... I don’t know.. Maybe he just.. Doesn’t like you?”   


Bismuth shrugged. “I don’t like him either.”   
  
Steven cleared his throat. 

Bismuth and Pearl whipped around. Pearl stood immediately, fixing her ribbon. “Ah! Steven! Hello.. What do you need?”   
  
“I need to talk to Bismuth.”   
  
Bismuth sighed. “I’m fine, Steven. Go to sleep.”   
  
“No. I need to talk to you.”   
  
Bismuth raised a brow. 

“...Hmph. Fine.”   


“I’ll just.. Excuse myself.” Pearl said.    
  
“Wait!” Steven called. “Um.. Please don’t go too far.”   
  
“Why not?”   
  
“... In case I need you.”   
  
Bismuth scoffed. “Oh, so now  _ you _ don't trust me?”   
  
“... I like you, Bismuth, but Twoie told me why he was so afraid of you.”   
  
He stepped into the water and started to swim up the waterfall. Bismuth helped him to the top.   
  
“Why’s that? Why’s he ‘afraid’?”

Steven looked down at his lap, locking his fingers together and fidgeting. He let out a slow breath. His skin was crawling again.   
  
“Because.. Of the Breaking Point.”

Bismuth’s eyes widened. Pearl frowned. “Um.. what’s a.. Breaking Point?”

Bismuth’s expression hardened. “ _ How do you know about that? _ ”

“Because.. In his time.. You took him to the forge. You showed him the Breaking Point and t-.. And then.. You tried to  _ shatter _ him.”   
  
Pearl paled, no longer trying to leave. Bismuth straightened her posture and grit her teeth.   
  
“He’s lying to you, kid. I would never shatter a Crystal Gem.”   
  
“He said you thought I was Rose.” Steven continued. “That she poofed you and bubbled you. And.. and you.. You wanted to shatter me. Shatter  _ him _ .”   
  
“He’s lying.”

“... It seemed real.” Steven bit his lip. “How else would he know about the Breaking Point?”   
  
“...” Bismuth clenched her fist, glancing at Pearl out of the corner of her eye.   
  
“...  _ Maybe  _ **you** remember it.”

“What?” Steven looked up. “How could I remember it?”   
  
“... Because you’ve seen it before, Rose.”   
  
Pearl stepped in. “Steven isn’t Rose.”   
  
“How are you sure?” Bismuth snapped back. “How do you know she’s not just lying to you? How do you know she isn’t just playing us for  _ fools?” _

“Because… I was there when Rose died, Bismuth..” Pearl murmured. “I know Steven isn’t her. E-even if she’s in his gem… He’s obviously  _ not _ her.”   
  
Bismuth huffed and glared back at Steven. Steven’s instincts told him to curl up and shy away, but he stood his ground. He looked back at her evenly.   
  
“I just want us to be friends.” He said, voice shaking. “I want all of us to be friends and.. And to work this out. We need to just..  _ Talk  _ about this.”   
  
Bismuth huffed. “... Fine. I guess.”

Pearl went to the edge of the waterfall.   
  
“I’m gonna keep an eye on you two, but I.. I don’t think it’s my place to sit in on your discussion.”   
  
Steven whined. He needed her here.. But she was gone before he could protest.   
  
It was just him and Bismuth now.

“So..” Steven started. He was sweating. “Um.. shattering is bad.”   
  
“Not all the time.”   
  
“It is!” Steven huffed. “Shattering is bad! I’m sure Pearl, Garnet, and Amethyst would agree.”   
  
“We could’ve  _ won  _ the war with the Breaking Point, Ro-...  _ Steven.  _ But, no, you decided to bubble me away instead.”   
  
“I’m  _ not _ my mom. And we can solve our problems  _ without  _ shattering! I promise!”   
  
“I doubt that.”   
  
Steven sighed. “... I’ve had other people try to kill me before, y’know.”   
  
“You’re a Crystal Gem. It comes with the territory.”   
  
Steven frowned. “Yeah, well, I didn’t exactly ask to be one.”   
  
Bismuth stared at him. “You what?”   
  
“I was born into this.. I didn’t.. I didn’t have a choice. I’m just a Crystal Gem because the gems are my family. Now I have to do Crystal Gem stuff and fight. Even if I don’t want to.”

“... B-but don’t get me wrong!” Steven chuckled nervously. “I love the gems! And missions! I just don’t like fighting..”

Bismuth hummed. “... Alright.”   
  
“So..” Steven leaned back a little, staring up at the ceiling. “Um.. This one gem, Peridot, she tried to kill me.. And kidnapped me and kidnapped my friends..”   
  
“She a Homeworld gem?”   
  
“Yep. And she’s my friend now. Because.. I talked to her. I changed her from her side, to ours. And she’s no longer loyal to Homeworld-- she’s living life, free on Earth!”   
  
Bismuth’s eyes widened. Then she narrowed them again. “How do you know that’s not just luck?”   
  
“Because Lapis is my friend, too! And she was a Homeworld gem! Also, she tried to drown me.. And steal the ocean.. And..” He frowned. “She did a lot of bad stuff. But now she’s an amazing friend! Who’s also living life here on Earth!”   
  
Bismuth tilted her head. “And.. why are you telling me this?”

“Because.. I believe that everyone deserves a chance.” Steven said. “And that we shouldn’t shatter people, no matter who they are or.. How much we don’t like them. N-nobody deserves to be shattered.”   


Steven gulped and thumbed at the fabric of his shirt.   
  
Bismuth sighed. “Steven, what you don’t understand is just how bad the Diamonds  _ are _ . They take over planets, kill every being on its surface, then colonize it. They’ve shattered  **millions.** There is no way you’re going to befriend them.”   


“Well.. even if they did all that horrible stuff.. They shouldn’t be shattered.”   


“And why’s that?” Bismuth asked, narrowing her eyes. “You don’t think someone like that  _ deserves _ to pay for their crimes?”   
  
“I..” Steven whimpered, holding his head in his hands. He didn’t know! He wasn’t a war veteran like the gems, he never met the Diamonds or been under their control-- all he knew is that shattering was like murder, and murder was obviously bad! He didn’t want to be debating whether or not someone should  _ live. _

But, he had to, he supposed. Otherwise, Bismuth would probably try and shatter someone.   
  
“I think.. That.. they should pay, yes, but not by being shattered. That’s too cruel.” Steven bit his lip. “Maybe they can just be.. Punished another way? I guess?”   
  
“How’s that?”   
  
“I don’t know.” Steven sighed. “I don’t know gem punishments. Maybe they uh.. Say sorry to everyone and.. Free all the planets they colonized and then um.. Do other good stuff? M-maybe.. They need to do good things to make up for all the bad things they did!”   
  
“You can’t just ‘make up for’ shattering.”   
  
“Well, then that applies to you, too! You’re saying that shattering isn’t good because the Diamonds did it, but then you wanna do it! And.. well.. Maybe you wouldn’t just stop at the Diamonds, Bismuth! If you did shatter them, that is. Maybe.. Maybe nobody should have the power to just  _ shatter _ someone like that. What if you make a mistake one day? Or what if we fight someone who could be a friend and then you shatter them before you have the chance?”   
  
“I wouldn’t do that.”   
  
“Well, you almost shattered me, so.”   
  
Bismuth pressed her lips together. “...”   
  
Steven sighed. “What if.. Someone shattered.. Garnet?”   
  
Bismuth gasped. “That-- don’t make me think about that!”   
  
“See!? You’re so hypocritical!” Steven gestured to her, emphasizing his point. “If someone shatters Garnet, it’s bad, but if you shatter someone else’s friend, it’s okay? Why? Because you don’t know them?? Because they’re a Homeworld gem? Well, I’m friends with Homeworld Gems and I won’t let you shatter them!”

Steven stood, putting his foot down.   
  
Bismuth glanced over him, thinking.   
  
“...”   
  
She looked out to the room, shutting her eyes for a moment and sinking her fingertips into the water just to feel it.

“... Ugh. I dunno.” Bismuth laid back. “I guess you have some points..”   
  
“R-really?”   
  
“Yeah. I guess.” Bismuth rolled her eyes. “... I guess there are other ways to.. Y’know.. Show those Diamonds who’s boss without shattering them.”   
  
“Uh- yeah!” Steven nodded. “Because shattering is bad and uh.. Making them do good deeds is better! Because it helps everyone!”   
  
“Y’know, you’ve said that shattering is bad about a hundred times, now.”   
  
Steven blushed and rubbed the back of his neck. “Oh. Sorry. ‘Guess I just really want you to know that.”   
  
Bismuth chuckled lightly and sat up.   
  
“I’ll think on it, Steven.” She looked over and nodded to him. “I’ll think on it. And uh.. We won’t go down to the forge.”   
  
Steven smiled. “Good. Um. Thank you for.. Listening to me.”

“‘Course.” Bismuth pat his shoulder. “We’re a team.”   
  
Steven tensed at the contact, but soon relaxed and pat her back. “Yeah. A team.”

They heard the door open. They looked down and saw Twoie, peeking in nervously.   
  
Bismuth narrowed her eyes. “HEY! DIDN’T I SAY NOT TO TALK TO ME!?”   
  
Twoie squeaked and retreated.

“... I think maybe you two should talk about what happened.” Steven said. “I mean, he was only being nervous because he knew that you were going to um.. Maybe shatter me, so.”   
  
“Well, he cracked me. That was rude. And he hurt you, too.”   
  
Steven felt his nose, it was still throbbing with pain. His shirt had blood on it, too, staining the star.   
  
“Yeah…”   
  
“Maybe  _ you _ should talk to him about  _ that. _ ”   
  
Steven shrugged. “I guess.. Maybe. But only if you talk to him, too.”   
  
“Not tonight.” Bismuth put up a hand. “Tomorrow, maybe.”   
  
Steven nodded. “Tomorrow, it is.”

Steven left Bismuth, hopping down the waterfall and swimming to the door. He opened it and walked out, catching sight of Twoie on the couch, watching something on his phone.   
  
“Hey.”   
  
Twoie jumped and then sighed. “Oh, hey.” He shut off his phone. “What’s up?”   
  
“Um. A lot?”   
  
Twoie frowned. “Yeah.”    
  
He sat up and moved over. Steven sat in that space and pulled some of the blanket over his shoulders. Twoie smiled softly and put his arm around Steven instead. Steven smiled and scooted closer.

“... So.. I need to know: what’s the pink power?”

“Oh.” twoie paled. “Uh. Wait, before that.. How’d it go? With Bismuth?”   
  
“I talked to her.. She’s thinking over what I said. So.. good!”   
  
Twoie gave him a side hug. “Aw, that’s great! Good job, Steven!”   
  
Steven chuckled and hugged him back. He let go after a bit.

“So, back to my question....”   
  
Twoie nodded solemnly. “Right.”   
  
He adjusted himself on the couch.   
  
“So… Basically, the Pink Power is what happens when I’m really.. Emotional? I think? Angry, sad, uh.. Pretty much only negative emotions. And when it happens, I get powerful and violent. Everything just.. Goes away and all I can feel is the burning  _ rage _ in my veins..”   
  
He sighed. “That’s why I’ve been trying so hard to control it. I don’t like that feeling. I could really hurt someone. Well, I guess I  _ did _ really hurt someone. How’s your nose?”   
  
“Um.” Steven pressed it. He winced. “A little sore.”   
  
Twoie frowned. “Want me to give it some extra magic?”   
  
Steven smiled. “Yeah.”   


Twoie kissed his nose and Steven pressed it again. It felt a little better.   
  
“... So.” Steven twiddled his thumbs. “You.. you can’t really think while you’re.. Like that, right?”   
  
“No..? Steven, what are you trying to say?”   
  
“I just..” Steven bit his lip. “... I dunno. I wanted to make sure you didn’t mean to crack Bismuth or hurt me and.. I wanna also know.. What causes that. So I don’t do it.”   
  
Twoie blinked.   
  
“Well,"    
  
He hummed. “I didn’t mean to hurt either of you. I just screamed and the power came out without me willing it to-- as for  _ you _ turning pink.. I don’t think that’ll happen. I got this when I was sixteen, and I was upset many times before that, so.. You’re fine.” He pat his head. 

Steven smiled tightly and brushed off his hand.   
  
“... I um.. Realized something while talking to Bismuth.”   
  
“And what’s that?”   
  
“I don’t like.. Doing this.”   


Twoie cocked his head.   
  
Steven sighed. “I don’t like.. Having to.. Well, it’s not  _ helping people _ . I  _ love _ helping people! But… um…” He clenched his fists, trying to find the words.

“It’s exhausting.”   
  
“Yes! Yes. I mean.. I like helping Bismuth, I want her to be better, but having to explain why shattering is bad… put a lot of pressure on me.”   
  
Twoie nodded, patting his back.   
  
Steven scooted up closer to him. Twoie leaned back, letting him get comfortable.

“I also don’t like keeping secrets.”   
  
“Secrets?”   
  
“About how I feel!” He looked up. “I’ve wanted to talk to the gems about how I feel ever since the day Ruby left, but.. No time feels like a  _ good  _ time. Because the wedding happened, then Bismuth, then tonight…” He groaned. “And now I’m starting to think it’s stupid.”   
  
“Hey, hey, no. It’s not stupid.” Twoie reassured. “I know it’s going to be tough to talk to them about the things they’ve done. But.. you did it with Amethyst! And that worked out. So.. one down, only.. Uh..” He bit his lip. “Four more to go?”   
  
Steven nodded. “Yeah. Yeah..”

“Y’know..” Twoie began. “No time’s ever going to really..  _ Feel _ right. But you gotta just rip off the band-aid and do it, y’know? Before things get too busy again. Or before you convince yourself against it.”   
  
Steven frowned and pressed his lips together, thinking. Twoie was right.. He did just want this over with, but at the same time, if it wasn’t good timing, then it’d be for nothing. And what if the gems didn’t respect him or his feelings? What if he was  _ actually  _ overreacting?   
  
Steven was snapped out of his thoughts by a familiar weight on his chest. Twoie seemed to have picked up one of the stuffed animals from the couch and laid it on Steven to cheer him up.

“Snuggly Bunny!” Steven beamed, squeezing the stuffed animal tightly. 

Twoie ruffled his hair. “It’s midnight now, you should sleep.”   
  
“Awe.” Steven hummed. "Okay…"   
  
“... You still thinking about the gems?”   
  
“Yeah.” Steven said, sitting up.   
  
“... Well, when you decide to do it, I’ll be here for you.” Twoie hugged him. “Backing you up every step of the way.”   
  
Steven hugged him back.   
  
“You’re a great friend, Twoie.”   
  
“Aw, thanks. You, too.”    
  
He stood up, carrying Steven now. Steven smiled and shut his eyes, letting Twoie carry him up and lay him in bed. Twoie tucked him in and pat his head.

"Goodnight, Steven."

"Goodnight, Twoie…" He yawned. "Love you."

"Love you, too."   
  
Twoie went downstairs.    
  
Steven got under the covers and snuggled his plushie, feeling lighter.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this is late! Please leave a comment if you enjoyed!


	22. The Ultimate Weapon

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bismuth loses a weapon, but finds a new one.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> tw// blood, violence, body horror(?)

Snow fell delicately from the gray clouds overhead, covering the pine trees in thin, clean, sheets. Steven shivered and blew into his hands then rubbed his cheeks to keep warm. They’d been walking for what seemed like forever now, and he was starting to want to go home.   
  
“Just a little further, everybody.” Pearl said. “Then we’ll get it.”   
  
Everyone nodded. Steven didn’t know what they were getting. He didn’t get the chance to ask. He looked up at Twoie to see if maybe he would elaborate. Twoie looked straight ahead, keeping up well with the group. How was he not cold?   
  
Steven sighed and shivered again, he didn’t want to fall behind.

Snow crunched beneath his boots as he kept walking, the frost biting into his skin through his jacket. Steven kept looking up at the gems, to see if they were getting closer, to see if he’d get an explanation. They never gave him one, just contently marching along in the woods. Steven opened his mouth to speak, but he just didn’t have the energy for it. He was sure Twoie and the gems knew what they were doing.

The snow came down harder and he grunted, squeezing his eyes shut and hunching over, making himself smaller by huddling in. 

In the distance, suddenly, was a faint whine. Steven opened his eyes and looked over, down a lane of trees. Down the lane of trees were footprints and trails: a large, stump-like print, a thin, dragging, line, like a tail, and some smaller, round, prints, looking like they were from hands, dotted beside them. He squinted, following the trail with his eyes into the distance. He couldn’t see much through the blizzard, but heard another low whine, ending in a soft sob. He whined himself and turned back to the group.   
  
“Hey, guys--”   
  
They were gone.

Steven paled. "Guys??”   
  
He jogged to the acme of the small hill they were on and looked around. Just then, the snow increased, slamming down. He grit his teeth and shielded his eyes, still trying to look around for them.    
  
“Pearl? Garnet? Amethyst??  _ Hello _ ? Twoie??”

No response.

Another cry rang through the woods. Steven looked back and frowned. He needed to help whatever was hurt, at least. Twoie and the gems would come back for him eventually. 

He slid down the small hill and landed back where he was, staring down the lane of trees. He began to follow the footprints, only being able to see a foot in front of him. As he walked, the trees seemed to close in, getting narrower the closer he got to the creature. He grit his teeth and forced himself smaller to continue through. The creature wailed in pain. Steven gasped and picked up the pace, even though the branches kept stickling him.

Another cry, curdling and garbled. Steven felt a shiver up his spine. It must be dying! 

“Help!”   
  
Steven froze. 

“... I.. I’m coming!” He replied. It- the person ahead was crying continuously now and he began to sprint, knocking into trees, stumbling over rocks, snow digging into his skin, beating down harder until he could hardly see.

Finally, he reached a clearing, the trees in a circle, the snow cleared up. In front of him was a small, black, round, thing, laying in dirtied snow. 

Steven walked closer and kneeled down, holding out a hand.   
  
“Are you okay?”

The black, round, thing breathed slowly, not turning around. Steven gulped and tapped it.   
  
“Are you okay?”   
  
The black thing slowly turned around, it’s body twisting and stretching until it was ‘facing’ Steven. From the void of it’s form, a cat’s eye opened, staring up at him.

Steven backed up. “Um.”

The black thing’s form began to drip and spread out like water, raising up the blob and twisting around it in a flurry. Swarms of black butterflies created it’s body: The creature had two arms, one long and string-thin, the other a massive stump that it slammed on the ground with robonoid legs for fingers. It’s body was twisted and cocked to the side. Jutting out from its body were gem shards and pieces of blue and white jagged steel. On its stomach was a pink gem, not unlike Steven's.

It loomed above Steven, dripping with moss and water, crackling with destabilizing, yellow, energy. It reared back, It’s cat’s eyes opened, and it’s mouth, twisted in a frown of anguish, opened and  **_shrieked_ ** .

Steven screamed and ran. He fell through the cold snow and slammed into a void. His nose cracked and blood squirted everywhere. Behind him, the monster was chasing. He scrambled to his feet and ran, screaming as his legs burned. His eyes watered. His heart pumped.   


The monster was gaining, slamming it’s fists and feet into the ground and screaming out in pain at Steven. It’s eyes rolled, it’s liquid oozed onto the floor and swam towards Steven, nipping at his heels. Steven cried and sprinted forward, suddenly seeing his house come into view. With the last of his energy, he launched himself forward and onto the porch. He scrambled inside and slammed the door shut behind him. 

Pearl, Garnet, Amethyst, Lapis, Peridot, Bismuth, and Twoie were in the kitchen, facing away from him. 

“ **_GUYS! GUYS! HELP!”_ ** Steven begged, running up and tugging on Pearl’s ribbon. “PEARL! PEARL! THERE’S A MONSTER OUTSIDE!”

Pearl turned around. Steven fell to the ground. Her face was twisted in anguish, like those of the cluster and the monster. Everyone’s heads turned, identical.   
  
**_“What’s wrong with your faces!?”_ ** Steven heaved as he backed up. They started to close in on him.   
  
“Guys!?” Steven sniffled, getting out his shield. It fizzled away.

“Guys, what’s going on!?” 

They cornered him to the door. Steven looked down and saw an empty abyss below his feet instead of his home’s hardwood flooring. He teetered on the edge of the broken floorboards, ready to drop into the void with a hair’s breadth. Rose glanced down at him from her portrait.

“Why are you all doing this!? Help me!!”

Twoie stepped forward, pink.   
  
“Don’t worry. This is all for the best."

He pushed him off.

Steven awoke with a start, panting and crying. He quickly glanced around and saw he was in his bedroom. It was morning. Everyone was downstairs. 

He exhaled slowly and wiped his eyes, still shaking.

“What..”

“Hey, Steven!” Amethyst called. Steven jumped and held Snuggly Bunny close to himself. “Huh??”

“Come down for breakfast!”   
  
Steven blinked and then shook his head, rubbing his eyes. “Right, right.. Okay! B-be down in a second!”   
  
He set down Snuggly Bunny and gathered his clothes. He quickly went downstairs and slipped into the bathroom. Once inside, he began taking off his clothing. He paused when he saw his gem.

“...”   
  
He shook his head and put on his normal shirt. Once dressed, he went to the sink and splashed some water on his face.    


_ It’s okay, Steven. It was just a dream! _ He thought to himself, giving himself a shaky smile in the mirror.  _ Just a horrible, weird, dream… It happens sometimes! It happens sometimes… Just relax, eat breakfast, and forget all about it. _

He nodded to himself, but the dream still stuck in the back of his mind as he sat down on the stool, cutting up some of his pancake and putting a forkful into his mouth.

“So…” Amethyst leaned over. “How’d you sleep?”   
  
Steven choked. “Augh! Oh-- what?? Why do you--” He coughed. “Ask?”   
  
Amethyst chuckled. “Jeez, dude, don’t choke. I was just trying to make conversation.”

“Oh.” Steven chuckled nervously back. “Uh, okay.”   
  
Twoie frowned and opened his mouth to saw something before Pearl’s door opened. Bismuth walked out.

“Hey.”   
  
Everyone turned to look. Garnet and Amethyst waved, the others were silent. Bismuth waved back and walked over to Steven, putting a hand on his shoulder. Steven flinched.   
  
“Hey, Steven. Um.. I just wanted to apologize for last night.”   
  
Steven smiled weakly. “Oh, I-it’s okay--”   
  
“No, It wasn’t. I was completely out of line.” Bismuth sighed. “Even if you are Rose, which.. I’m mostly sure you’re not, you don’t deserve to be… shattered.” 

She whispered the last word in vain. Amethyst and Garnet’s eyes widened. Pearl glanced over.

“So… I’m gonna put away the Breaking Point again. I won’t shatter anyone unless it's a Diamond.” She whispered.

Steven whined. “U-um.. Don’t you think that you should just  _ destroy _ the Breaking Point..? A-and you can’t shatter Diamonds either!”   
  
Bismuth scoffed. “What?? C’mon! I worked hard on that! Steven, this is a compromise.”   
  
“Yo.” Amethyst piped up. “What was that about shattering Steven?”   
  
Bismuth looked over, paling. “Oh. Um..” She blushed and rubbed the back of her neck. “Don’t worry about it.”   
  
Garnet summoned her gauntlets. “Tell us.  **_Now_ ** .”

Bismuth gulped. “Uh.. Fine. I uh.. I was going to take Steven down to the forge yesterday to show him a weapon that could shatter gems.. See if he wanted to use it. See if.. He was really Rose. Of course, I never planned on  _ shattering _ him.. I'm not that kinda gem. But  _ apparently _ in  _ Twoie’s _ time, I tried to. I realized last night that if I was alone with Rose, faced with eternal bubbling again.. I’d fight my way out. I don’t think I’d actually  _ shatter _ him but, uh, I'd fight. For self defense, of course…" She shrugged and smiled nervously.

Garnet clenched her fists.

Amethyst frowned. “You made a weapon that shatters gems..?”   
  
Pearl looked away.

Bismuth nodded. “Yes. I figure we could win the war with that. But.. I see now that.. Shattering every gem who’s from Homeworld, without giving them a chance to be our allies, is counterproductive to our cause. So, only Diamonds.”   
  
“No.” Garnet snarled. “You’re not shattering  _ anybody _ , Bismuth. Destroy that weapon.”   
  
“Garnet!” Bismuth yelped. “C’mon! Do you  _ know _ how powerful we could be with that kinda power? C’mon, don’t you wanna get back at Blue Diamon--”   
  
**_“That’s enough!”_ ** Garnet shouted. “You are going to go down to the forge and destroy that weapon!”

“I’ll come with.” Pearl said. “To make sure.”   
  
Bismuth looked around at everyone in disbelief. “Guys! C’mon, we’re all on the same team! Don’t gang up on me like this!”   
  
Amethyst huffed. “Says the gem who apparently was gonna shatter Steven.”   
  
Bismuth frowned.

Pearl walked over to her. “Let’s go.”   
  
“Wait.” Garnet said. “You’re not going alone. We’ll come along, too. Everyone, to the forge.”   
  
Steven whined, opening his mouth to speak but they were all already heading to the warp. Steven sighed and got on, clinging to Twoie. Twoie ruffled his hair, giving him a weary smile and they warped off.

The walk to the forge was silent. Steven glanced around to get a look at how everyone was doing on the way. Garnet still had her gauntlets out, looking down and thinking about something, mouth tight in a frown. Amethyst looked miffed and kept glaring at Bismuth, sometimes glancing back at Steven and softening. Pearl was beside Bismuth, avoiding eye contact. Twoie looked numb.

Steven felt numb, too.

When they got into the forge, Bismuth walked to the  center of the forge and formed her hand into a screwdriver shape, putting it into a giant screw in the ground and turning it, making the platform go down. 

Downwards, there were five platforms surrounded by lava. On each of the platforms was a stone dummy. 

"Here it is…" Bismuth said, grabbing something from a compartment in the floor. "The weapon that would've  _ won _ the war."

She turned around and Steven gasped. Garnet tensed and Amethyst drew her whip.

On Bismuth's arm was the Breaking Point. It was attached to her forearm and was black, with her symbol on it in pink. The spike looked to be about as big as a normal quartz gem. If it set off, it would shatter them instantly.

"Oh, Bismuth…" Pearl whimpered. "I can't believe you…"

"What!?" Bismuth growled. "C'mon! We could've won with this!! Are you telling me you don't want the best chance to  _ win _ !?"

"Not if it means shattering gems." Garnet said.

"Garnet, you've shattered before." Bismuth grit her teeth, pointing at her. "You  _ all _ have."

"It was a  _ war _ , Bismuth." Pearl scolded. "We didn't have a  _ choice _ ."

"We're still _in_ a war!" Bismuth exclaimed. "The Diamonds are still attacking, Homeworld gems are still coming, we need to fight! What're you gonna do if they come and try and shatter us, huh? _Talk it out?_ _Poof 'em and wait 'til they_ ** _come back?_** It's ridiculous! The only way to fight this violence is with more _violence_."

"You're wrong!" Steven piped up. "You're wrong! I've talked it out with  _ so _ many gems! They're my friends now a-and if someone did try and shatter us.. We'd just.. Um.. I dunno! Bubble them?  _ Anything _ but  _ shattering _ !"

Garnet and Amethyst nodded.

Bismuth narrowed her eyes. "Well, sometimes, you don't get to do that, Steven. Think about it: another war could start any day now--"

"Bismuth," Pearl started.

"And if it does come to  _ you, a Crystal Gem. _ " She continued. "Then what will you do? You can't talk it out with a hundred soldiers. You can't talk it out with a  _ Diamond.  _ You'll be shattered or  _ they _ will be."

"Bismuth!" 

Bismuth looked up to Pearl. "What? C'mon, it's true!" 

Pearl sighed and shook her head. 

Steven wiped his eyes. "..." What  _ if  _ there was a war? He didn't want to be shattered, but he didn't wanna shatter anyone, either.  _ Would he have to make that decision some day? _

Garnet huffed. "Bismuth, just destroy the weapon already. We're not convinced."

"Fine." Bismuth said. "..."

She turned to the lava.

"..."

"Let me just.. Show you, though." Bismuth said, clicking a switch into place. The five platforms around them closed in.

"Bismuth--" Garnet started.

Bismuth reared back the Breaking Point.

"If I can just  _ show _ you, you'll understand."

**_"Bismuth."_ **

Bismuth turned around to face Twoie. Twoie was pissed, eyes glaring and teeth grit. His cheeks were pink.

"Destroy it. Now. Before I  _ make  _ you."

"Make me? What? Gonna crack me again?"

Twoie snarled and his eyes went hot pink, no white left.

" **Now, Bismuth** . I'm sick of you toying around with a murder weapon."

Bismuth backed up a little. "... Hm." 

She sighed and dropped it into the lava, watching it sink.

"I'll miss you, Breaking Point."

Twoie sighed and his eyes went back to normal. "Finally. Now let's get outta here."

The others agreed. Bismuth stepped on the switch.

On the way up, everyone seemed to share a worried glance. Steven could tell they were concerned about Twoie's pink power, and Garnet and Amethyst were worried about him cracking her.

They rose up to the surface and began to exit.

"Hey, before you go…" Bismuth said. Twoie and the rest turned around. Bismuth put a hand on Twoie's shoulder. "I wanna talk to you, later, Twoie. One-on-one."

"Hell no."

Twoie shrugged her off and headed back to the warp pad.

Everyone stared at him.

"... Well, then." Bismuth huffed. 

Amethyst looked back at Steven, studying him for a second before they all walked back to the warp, where Twoie was waiting. They warped back into the house. Pearl went to her room.

Twoie sighed and sat down on the couch. Amethyst and Garnet came up to him, sitting down with him. Twoie looked up at Garnet as she murmured something to him. He nodded and got up, following the both of them into Garnet's room.

It was just him and Bismuth.

Steven glanced over at her.

She glanced over at him.

"... So." Steven started. "U-um… do you still wanna.. Shatter Diamonds?"

"Yeah."

Steven sighed. "..."

Bismuth bit her lip. "But, well.. Guess I can't. I mean… There aren't any Diamonds  _ here _ , y'know?" She chuckled.

Steven laughed nervously. "U-uh-huh! No Diamonds! N-not here… So you'll hopefully n-never shatter one!"

Bismuth nodded. "Mm… I guess. And, y'know, if everyone else sees something to this whole  _ pacifist _ whatever, I'm sure it's not the  _ worst?" _

She seemed a little bitter still, but Steven appreciated she was gonna give no shattering a try.

"So… We good now?" Bismuth held her hand out for a shake.

Steven reached out his hand, then paused.

"..."

A flash of Bismuth cornering him to the void from last night re-entered his mind.

_ No time's going to feel like a good time, y'know? _

"... No." Steven muttered.

Bismuth retracted her hand. "What?" 

"... Y-you.. Hurt my trust. Betrayed me. I s-still like you and wanna be friends and i-i appreciate that you, um… You aren't gonna try and kill me and that you've destroyed the breaking point and all that, but, I… It's going to take me a while to trust you again. I'm sorry."

Bismuth blinked.

"... Hm." She let her hand drop to her side. "Fair enough."

She went into her room.

Steven let out a long breath he was holding.

"Oh my stars." He gulped, clutching his shirt. He grinned.

"I can't believe I just did that."

That went  _ so  _ much better than expected.

He stood back up and shook out his anxiety, still smiling. He glanced towards the temple door and frowned. 

"I wish I knew what was happening with Twoie…"

The temple door glowed pink and swirled open. He beamed and ran in.

"Hey, room! Long time no see, huh?"

No response.

Steven sighed. "Alright, whatever. Let me see what Twoie's up to! The  _ real  _ Twoie, by the way. In the basement?"

In front of him, the cloud floor swirled open to reveal a birds eye view of the basement with glass to make sure Steven didn't fall. Steven walked over and peered down. Twoie, Garnet, and Amethyst were talking. 

Steven huffed. "Wish I could hear them."

Suddenly, he could.

"So, do you think Steven could get this ' _ pink power'  _ stuff, too?" Amethyst asked.

Twoie shrugged. "I don't think so. I mean, I first got it when I was.. Sixteen? And uh, I'd been upset a lot of times before then."

"Do you know what causes it?" She asked.

Twoie shrugged again, rubbing the back of his neck. "Just me being upset."

"Sounds dangerous." Garnet commented. 

Twoie flushed in embarrassment. "Well, I mean, I have to be  _ really _ upset. Like, y'know, when I cracked Bismuth, I lost it because Steven was gonna  _ die,  _ y'know?"

Garnet nodded. "Mm.. But I trust you won't go pink over small things."

"Yeah, I won't." Twoie nodded. "Trust me, I haven't gone fully pink in  _ so _ long."

"Didn't you say you last went pink when you were seventeen?" Amethyst asked. "That's, like.. A year, right?"

Twoie shrugged. "Dunno, maybe less. But it  _ feels _ like forever."

"Alright." Garnet nodded. "I believe you. You're fine." She smiled and patted his shoulder. "Just scared us."

Twoie nodded sheepishly. "Haha, yeah… Thanks, guys."

"No prob, dude." Amethyst smiled. 

Amethyst and Garnet went to walk out. Just then, Bismuth came in.

"Hey, guys." Bismuth greeted.

Everyone tensed.

"Um, hey." Amethyst said.

Garnet waved. "Hello."

"Mind if I talk to Twoie for a sec?"

Garnet and Amethyst looked back at Twoie. Twoie glanced down at the lava pit.

"... Why?"

"I just need to talk to you."

"Then talk to me."

"Alone."

"Why?"

"I'm not gonna shatter you, Twoie." Bismuth groaned. "Plus, you're very strong, you can handle me if I did. Which, I won't."

Twoie narrowed his eyes. 

"C'mon, why don't we do it in your room, then?" Bismuth asked. "Your territory."

Twoie thought about it for a second and nodded. "Fine. Rose's room it is."

Steven paled and got up. 

"Room! Uh, find a way to hide me from Twoie and Bismuth but I can still see and hear them! I don't want Twoie to be alone with her…"

The looking glass below him vanished and clouds circled him, covering him in a thin layer of camouflage that he could still see out of.

"Thanks, room!"

Steven ran off to the side to spy. He knew that listening in on someone's private conversations wasn't good… But if Twoie was in danger, he needed to help.

Twoie and Bismuth walked in. Bismuth first.

Bismuth looked around. "Huh. Just like how I remember it. Empty."

Twoie chuckled. "Yeah. Wish it had more of a personality, to be honest."

Bismuth shrugged. "Well, it makes an easy transition to be  _ yours _ then, right?"

"Uh.. I guess so." 

They sat down.

"So what's this about?" Twoie asked.

"So… I realized something at the forge, when I was destroying the Breaking Point."

Twoie raised an eyebrow. 

"I thought the Breaking Point was the ultimate weapon, but I was wrong. Even though it shatters gems, that's it's _ only _ purpose. It's intimidating, sure, but only as much as the person  _ wielding _ it. And, well, since we're not shattering gems anymore.. Maybe the best weapon wouldn't  _ just _ shatter, but be able to do all sorts of things."

Twoie frowned. "If you're asking me to help you design a weapon, I dunno how good I'd be at--"

"No, no, I'm not asking for that." Bismuth smiled. "Because we already have it."

"We do?" 

"Yeah, right there." She pointed at him. " **_You. You_ ** are the ultimate weapon."

Twoie’s face went pink.

Steven felt his skin go cold.

_ "What?"  _ Twoie whispered.

"Don't you  _ see?"  _ Bismuth exclaimed. "You’re so  _ powerful! Imagine:  _ someone who’s both a soldier  **and** a weapon. A weapon that can crack gems with a single  _ scream _ , one that can shake the walls and build defense out of thin air- not to mention your healing power! Nobody on Homeworld would be able to even  _ touch _ us with you on the front lines. You’ve got potential, Universe.”

Twoie looked like he was gonna throw up, his body engulfed in pink except for the very tips of his fingers, toes, and ears. He put his hand over his mouth, tears pricking at his eyes.

Bismuth frowned. "C'mon, that's a compliment! And I’m not.. Asking you to be a _ living weapon _ or anything. You’re a person, too. But on the battlefield.. c’mon.”

"..." Twoie shook his head.

Bismuth sighed. "C'mon, how're we gonna kill- er-  _ beat  _ the Diamonds without a weapon? I'm sure with some training maybe you could even  _ crack _ one. No shattering necessary, just a little lesson to let them know who's in charge. Think about it.”

Twoie went fully pink and buried his face in his knees.

"What's wrong with you?" Bismuth asked. "I'm not saying we  _ shatter _ them--"

"S-stop talking."

Bismuth huffed.

"...." Twoie sniffled. "I'm not a  _ weapon _ ."

"You  _ could be _ . I've never seen a power like yours. You've practically got the power of a  **_Diamond_ ** ."

Twoie tensed, peeking up at her with wide eyes. “...”

Bismuth smile dropped a little.

"...Hey, wait a minute." She frowned. "... How..  _ Do _ you have that much power? You're a Quartz, Quartz's can't do all that, right?”

Twoie wiped his eyes and looked down again.

Bismuth paled.

"... Um. I…" Bismuth stammered. "..." She looked down at his gem.

She narrowed his eyes. "... Why would there be  _ two _ Rose Quartz's…?"

"I time t-travelled--"

"But did you?" Bismuth looked up.

Twoie gulped. "Bismuth, don't--"

"You're not.. Rose.." Bismuth stood up. 

"Bismuth--"

"How could I be so  _ stupid!?"  _ Bismuth exclaimed. "You don't wanna shatter the Diamonds, you crack  _ me _ because I do, you defend them, you're  _ friends with Homeworld gems _ , you  **turn pink** , and your stupid  _ time travel story,  _ how could anyone  **_believe_ ** that!? Only  **Diamonds** and  **elites** have access to time travel!"

"I'm not--"

"And your dome had  _ Diamonds _ on it! C'mon, I.." Bismuth groaned. "Maybe I'm just being crazy, but…”

Twoie stood up and sighed.

"... Y'know what? This was gonna happen at some point.. So.. Yeah. I… I have Pink Diamond's gem."

Bismuth paled and took a step back, hand turning into a spike.

" **_Pink Diamond."_ **

"Because Rose was Pink Diamond."

Bismuth furrowed her brows. 

Twoie put up his hands. "Pink faked her shattering so she could become Rose. I know it sounds hard to believe, but--"

" _ Yeah _ , it is hard to believe. That's the stupidest excuse I've  _ ever _ heard." She chuckled. "Wow. I thought I was just grasping at straws there.. But.. You’re actually her.”

She raised her spike.

“Now,  _ Pink Diamond… _ I think it's time for me to finish this, once and for all."

Twoie took a step backwards, readying his fists.

"Bismuth, no!" Steven cried, running out and dispelling his camouflage.

"Wh- Steven!?" Bismuth shouted. "What're you doing here!?"

Twoie glanced between them and ran to the door. Bismuth gasped.

"C'mon, Steven! Let's get her!" She ran after him.

"Bismuth, no!" 

They ran out of Rose's room and into the kitchen where everyone was. Twoie leapt for the warp pad and Bismuth slammed her spike into his back, knocking him to the wall.

**_"BISMUTH!?"_ ** Pearl screamed. "What are you  _ doing!?" _

"We've been fooled!" Bismuth cried out, sprinting to Twoie and raising her spike. "This isn't Twoie, or Steven, or even Rose!  **_This_ ** is  **_Pink Diamond!"_ **

She brought down her spike to his gem.

_ "WE KNOW THAT!" _

She stopped, spike clinking against his gem.

"...  _ What _ ?"

Pearl wiped her eyes and rushed over to Twoie. "We-we know he has Pink Diamond's gem, Bismuth.. Rose  _ was  _ Pink Diamond _. _ . H-he.." She picked him up. He had passed out, blood trickling down his back.

Bismuth frowned. "But he's a--"

**_"Bismuth!"_ **

Bismuth turned to Garnet. Garnet pointed to the warp pad.

**_"GET OUT!"_ **

Bismuth paled. "I didn't-- wha--  _ Garnet-- _ "

**_"GET OUT! THAT'S AN ORDER!"_ **

Bismuth huffed and stepped onto the warp.

"Fine. But I'm coming back."

She warped off.

Everyone immediately crowded Twoie. Steven was crying and lifted up the back of his shirt. Bismuth spike punctured the skin, but thankfully it didn't go deeper than some muscle. He gasped and shut his eyes, licking his hand and healing up the wound.

"I can't believe this." Garnet murmured. "Bismuth… Trying to hurt Steven… She.. She's our  _ friend _ .."

Pearl put a hand on her shoulder.

"It'll be okay. Let's- let's just focus on getting him upstairs and safe."

Garnet nodded and sighed, picking him up and going upstairs.

Steven looked to the warp pad.

"..."

"Hey, man." Amethyst put a hand on his shoulder. "Need a hug?"

"Yeah." Steven nodded. "Yeah."

She hugged him and Steven melted into it, crying softly into her shoulder.

When Garnet and Pearl came back down, they hugged him.

Steven wished Twoie could hug him, too.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please leave a comment if you enjoyed!!


	23. Confrontation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Steven talks with the gems.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> tw// emeto, scars, blood (mention), muscle damage(?)

Steven decided to sleep with Twoie that night, wanting to protect him just in case. Steven didn’t sleep well and kept waking up because the gems were moving about at night. 

He witnessed Garnet and Pearl blowing the warp whistle, Bismuth coming back, and them talking about her standing with the group. They explained the ‘Rose Quartz is Pink Diamond’ situation, and she took it surprisingly well after everything was cleared up. Then, Bismuth asked about her residency at the house. Pearl and Garnet told Bismuth she was in exile until further notice. Steven was sad to see her go, but she was a little too violent for the house right now. Maybe one day. At least Bismuth was mature about it, saying she respected their decision and hoped Twoie got better. She left after that.

Steven also had another nightmare when he was actually sleeping. It was the same monster, but this time, he and the monster were in a cage together while the gems and Twoie cheered them on to fight. Steven woke up everytime the monster killed him.

Finally, it was morning. Steven got out of bed, rubbed his eyes, and yawned.   
  
“Mm.. good morning, Twoie.” He said, patting the passed out boy. “Hope you wake up soon.. I’ll make breakfast, just in case.”   
  
He got downstairs and looked around for any sign of the gems. They weren’t there. Steven sighed and made two omelettes with bacon bits in them, setting one on the counter and eating the other one upstairs next to Twoie. He turned on crying breakfast friends and ate silently.

_ What are these dreams about?  _ He thought to himself.  _ What does it mean? Most dreams I have are just weird, not nightmares… and if they’re nightmares, they don’t come back or… mean anything. This feels like it means something _ .

He looked to Twoie.

_ Maybe it’s because he got hurt?  _

He shook his head. 

_ No, no… if it was that, I would just dream he got hurt, not about this weird monster. What is the monster anyways? A forced fusion? I guess that was scary… but why would a forced fusion have moss on it and be kinda liquid and also have a piece of my dad’s van in it? What’s the connection??? Everything’s fine with my dad! _

He groaned and laid back, setting aside his plate and looking at Twoie.

“Wish I could just ask you. You seem to know everything.”

Twoie stirred. Steven gasped.    
  
“Twoie??”   
  
Twoie’s eyes slowly opened and he yawned. “Hey… Ngh--” He grit his teeth and rubbed his back. “Ow…”   
  
“Oh, are you okay? Where does it hurt?” Steven asked, looking at Twoie’s back.   
  
“My back…”   
  
“Which part?”   
  
“Dunno.. The.. bottom part?”   
  
Steven nodded and pulled back the bandages. He sneered as the stench of blood filled his nose. He flung the bandages away and focused back on his wounds. Twoie now had a scar on his lower back, shaped like a dent from the attack. Steven winced and licked his hand, pressing against the spot. Twoie groaned. Nothing seemed to happen.

“Why isn’t it working..?” Steven paled. 

“It’s probably fine..” Twoie sat up and rubbed his head. “Can you get me a painkiller?”   
  
“A what?”   
  
“For headaches?”   
  
“We… don’t have any.” Steven said.   
  
“Shit..” Twoie sighed. “Text Dad to bring us some, please..”

Steven nodded and texted his dad to bring some ‘painkillers’ to their house. Once done, he examined his back again. “Maybe it’s internal?”   
  
“Probably.” Twoie rubbed his eyes. “What happened?”   
  
“Oh. Um…” Steven frowned. “Bismuth thought you were Pink Diamond… and tried to stab you.”   
  
“I know that.. But why does my back hurt?”   
  
“Because she stabbed you?”   
  
Twoie’s eyes flew wide. “SHE  _ WHAT!?” _

“It’s okay! It’s okay!” Steven reassured. “I healed it up! And it didn’t go all the way in! Pearl just said it ripped a muscle, but I healed it! You’re.. Maybe just sore?”   
  
“...” Twoie turned to try and look at his back. “...” He gulped, starting to shake. “...”   
  
“Are you okay..?’

Twoie shook his head.   
  
Steven bit his lip and gently put a hand on his arm to steady him. “What’s… wrong?”   
  
“I.. got stabb- s-s-stabbed.” He gulped. “I actually g-got stabbed. I got  _ stabbed _ .”   
  
Steven paled. “O-oh.. yeah.. Yeah..”   
  
Twoie held up a finger and got off the bed, speed walking to the bathroom and turning on the fan. Steven furrowed his brows. What--

He heard puking.

Oh.

Steven gulped and turned the TV up. Well, he was glad the fan was on, at least.

Twoie came out after eight minutes, stumbling to the kitchen and sitting down. Steven immediately hopped down.   
  
“Why were you puking? Are you okay?”   
  
“H-had a panic attack.”   
  
“Oh…” Steven frowned, feeling his stomach churn. “... That’s.. Not good. Do you want a hug?”   
  
Twoie shrugged. “Sure.”   
  
Steven got up and hugged him gently. Twoie sighed and hugged back. “Thank you, S-steven.”   
  
“No problem… um..” He slid him his plate. “Why don’t you.. Eat your breakfast and I’ll grab you something to cuddle?”   
  
“Oh, you don’t have to--”   
  
Steven was already at his bed, picking out the perfect stuffed animal. Sad bear? No… playful kitty? No, too firm.. Ah! Snuggly Bunny! That’d work perfectly. He grabbed the stuffed animal and rushed downstairs, setting it in Twoie’s lap. “Here you go!”   
  
“I’m not a kid anymore, Steven. I’m not gonna be seen carrying around a bunny.”   
  
Steven frowned. “... That’s rude.” He took Snuggly Bunny back. 

Twoie looked to it and sighed. “Sorry, sorry, you’re right. Let me have her.”   
  
Steven handed her back over and Twoie hugged her, sighing deeply and swallowing his bite of omelette. 

“... Hey, Twoie?”   
  
“What is it, Steven?”   
  
“Would now be a bad time to ask you for some.. Advice?” Steven asked, twiddling his thumbs.    
  
Twoie shrugged. “It’ll get my mind off me being stabbed, so yeah, def-d-d-..” He shuddered. “Definitely…”

Steven nodded and gently patted Twoie’s arm, hoping to comfort him somehow.    
  
“So.. I’ve been having weird dreams lately…”   
  
Twoie’s eyes widened. “Yeah?”   
  
“Yeah.” He nodded. “They’re really vivid, too.. Normally when I have nightmares they’re just kinda weird but this one..” he shuddered.   
  
“Tell me about it.” Twoie said, turning his attention to Steven.

“So.. I’m in these woods with everyone, walking somewhere, and then I get lost from the group because there’s this.. Um.. thing in pain off the trail. I go to help it and it  _ hurts _ because the trees keep st-- er-  _ poking  _ me. And when I finally get to it, it’s this big monster that chases me to my house. Everyone’s inside and when I try to ask for help, they just push me into the monster…”    
  
Twoie nodded. “... That sounds scary.”   
  
“It is. Um.. so, do you know if it means anything? I mean, I keep having it..”   
  
Twoie thought. “Hm.. well.. I dunno. Let me…”    
  
He took out his phone and typed something in.

Steven tilted his head. “What’re you doing?”

“Looking up dream meanings.” Twoie replied. “Specifically, like, running away from a monster…”   
  
Steven nodded.

Twoie started to read his phone and he frowned.

“Okay, so, it says that if you’re running away from a monster in a dream that you’re running away from your problems, and that ‘you will take more damage in the long run, so it’s best to face these problems head on and solve them’.” He turned to Steven. “Do you have anything you’re running from right now?”   
  
Steven bit his lip. “... I think so.”   
  
Twoie put down the phone. “And what’s that?”

Steven stood up. “I’m gonna get everyone here. I think it’s time for me to.. To talk to them.”   


Steven turned and went to the temple door, determined. Even if his body was tense and telling him to back off, he needed to do this. 

Twoie smiled softly behind him.

**\----------**

Finally, Steven had everyone with him in the living room. He and Twoie were on the couch, while Amethyst, Pearl, and Garnet faced him. 

“So.” Steven began, breathing out slowly. His heart was racing and he could feel himself sweating. Why was this so hard??   
  
Twoie put a hand on his shoulder, startling Steven. He looked up at Twoie, who smiled softly down at him. Steven smiled back and gave him a quick hug before turning back to the gems.   
  
“I guess you’re all wondering why I’ve gathered you here.”   
  
“Uh, yeah.” Amethyst said. “You kinda just barged in and told us to meet you in the living room.”   
  
“Is this about Bismuth?” Pearl asked. “Or Twoie’s, um, injury?”   
  
Twoie winced.

Steven shook his head. “No! No! It’s.. actually about all of you.”

Amethyst and Pearl raised their brows and looked at each other for a moment, then at Garnet, who didn't seem to respond. Garnet seemed tense, however.

Steven gulped.   
  
“You guys have done a lot of stuff that has made me.. Really uncomfortable and hurt in the past. And I wanted to talk to you a-all about that today. Because if I don’t, it’s gonna keep hurting me. And I don’t want that to happen. A-and I’m sure you don’t, either, be-because you love me.”   
  
He looked to Pearl.   
  
“Pearl.”   
  
Pearl tensed, fiddling with her hands. “Um, yes?”   
  
“...” Steven gripped his shirt and played with the fabric a bit, finding it hard to get the words out.   
  
Twoie rubbed his back and murmured “It’s okay.”   
  
Steven nodded to himself.

“So.. do you remember when we started UUU?”   
  
“UUU?” Pearl tilted her head. “Oh! You mean the.. Space travel thing?”   
  
Steven nodded. “Yes. Um. You..  _ lied _ to me and… said that we were just going out for an engine check, and then when I got into the ship with you, you kidnapped me and almost gave my dad a heart attack. And  _ then _ you wouldn’t listen to me when I asked you to give me back.. I had to almost  _ die _ for you to let me go…”   
  
Pearl shrunk back as Amethyst and Garnet looked at her in shock. Pearl blushed. “I, er, yes. I remember that.”   
  
It was silent.   
  
Steven frowned, feeling himself heat up.   
  
“Well?? I-- do--” He clenched his fists, feeling tears prick at his eyes. “Do you.. Are you sorry? Tha- that was really messed up!”   
  
“OH!” Pearl gasped. “Oh, Steven! Of course I’m sorry! Oh, oh, I’m sorry.” Pearl took his hands in her own. “That was wrong of me, yes, and I’m so sorry about that.”   
  
Steven smiled weakly and held her hands back. “... Thank you.”   
  
Pearl nodded. “Of course. I’m glad you got all that off your chest.”   
  
Steven chuckled nervously. “Um. There’s more.”   
  
Pearl paled.   
  
Amethyst snickered. “Oooh, Pearl’s in  _ trouble~” _

Pearl huffed and glared at Amethyst, sitting back down.   
  
“Well?” She turned to Steven, arms crossed.

Steven took a deep breath.   
  
“You made me lie to Garnet when we formed secret team and then blamed me for popping the bubble when  _ you _ were the one who did it, made Connie feel like she was nothing-- which I guess is more of  _ Connie’s _ thing to deal with with you but  _ still.  _ And then you called me ‘Rose’? I.. that made me start thinking that maybe… I was just mom. Or you wanted Mom here inst-instead of me. That’d you prefer I didn’t exist so mom could come back--”   
  
Pearl teared up. “Steven--”

“And when I pulled Rose’s scabbard out of Lion you insulted m- insulted me for never  _ knowing  _ mom and then r-ran off and let me fall after I chased you… did.. Did you not care? Did you just want me gone? Li-like, I--” He gripped Twoie’s hand to steady himself. “I could’ve died, and you didn’t do anything. Did you....”   
  
He curled up.   
  
“I know this is stupid: but I keep thinking that maybe you wanted me to die. S-so mom could come back.”   


Pearl put a hand up to her mouth and sniffled, tears coming down. Amethyst stared at Steven in stunned silence and Garnet fidgeted. Twoie looked to the side.   
  
“Oh, Steven..” Pearl got up and hugged him. He hugged her back.   
  
“Steven, I… Oh.” She wiped her eyes. “How long have you.. Have you thought that?”   
  
Steven shrugged tensely. “I.. I dunno. I think.. Ever since then.”   
  
“Oh…” Pearl sobbed. “Oh, this is all my fault, I can’t believe…--”   
  
“No! No! It’s okay!” Steven reassured frantically. He didn’t want her to cry about him.    
  
“It’s not, though, is it?” Twoie chimed in.

Everyone turned to him.   
  
“It’s not okay.” Twoie said, quieter this time. “Steven, you… you need to tell her.. Otherwise this isn’t going to go anywhere…”   
  
Steven frowned and nodded.   
  
“.... Yeah. Um.” Steven looked down. “That was pretty messed up. But p-please don’t think it’s all your fault…”   
  
“No, Steven.” Pearl shook her head. “It  _ is  _ my fault. I made you think that I didn’t love you. That I wanted.. Wanted your mother back.”   
  
“Well, do you?”   
  
Pearl blushed.   
  
“... Sometimes, I  _ do  _ want her back. I miss her everyday...”   
  
Steven felt his stomach churn.   
  
“However…” Pearl continued. “Never at the expense of your own life. If there was a way for.. For  _ both _ of you to be here.. I’d want that.” She smiled weakly and wiped Steven’s tears. “So you could know her, and so we could have her. I’d never want you to die for her to come back. And she wouldn’t either.”   
  
Steven smiled and hugged her again.   
  
Pearl kissed his forehead and they embraced for a minute, before Steven finally let go and she sat back on the floor. Amethyst looked over at her and then up at Steven.   
  
“... If this was just about Pearl, then why are we here?”   
  
“O-oh.” Steven wiped his eyes and cleared it’s throat. “It’s about all of you. Um- so, Amethyst--”   
  
“What?? What did  _ I  _ do?!” Amethyst exclaimed. “I already apologized for.. Well.. you know what!”   


Steven recoiled. “... W-well, yeah.. But, um. There’s more?”   
  
“Like  _ what _ ?” Amethyst narrowed her eyes.   
  
“You make fun of me a lot. And sometimes.. It makes me feel like you don’t care about how I feel.”   
  
Amethyst flushed and crossed her arms. “That’s stupid. I care about you.”   
  
“... But when you say stuff like that, it doesn’t..  _ Feel _ like it.”   
  
Amethyst huffed. “Alright, fine. I was just joking, though. But I guess I’ll stop being funny.”   
  
Steven pressed his lips together, frustrated.   
  
“... Okay, then. And, um. You also made me lie to Garnet. That sucked.”   
  
“I’m sorry.” Amethyst said irresolutely, not looking at him.

“And, um…” He thought. “Well, you did turn into mom to make fun of my dad, but, you already apologized, so that’s fi--”   
  
“YOU  _ WHAT!?” _ Pearl shrieked, glaring at Amethyst.   
  
Amethyst put her hands up, face completely flushed. 

“I-- I already said sorry, okay? I feel terrible about it. We’re cool now, don’t freak.”   
  
“You  _ should  _ feel sorry.” Garnet huffed.

“Poor Greg…” Pearl mumbled to herself.

“Ugh! Whatever! I said sorry and I feel sorry!” Amethyst exclaimed, throwing her hands up. “Let’s just get this  _ overwith _ .” She crossed them.

Steven whimpered. Amethyst was really angry… maybe this  _ was _ stupid. 

Twoie frowned. “Amethyst, don’t be rude.”   
  
“Tell  _ that _ to Steven.” Amethyst gestured towards him. “Coming here to air out all our dirty laundry-- isn’t that rude?”   


Twoie opened his mouth to speak, Steven spoke up instead. His eyes were pricking with tears again and his face was heated. He felt bitterness and sorrow fill his veins.   
  
“No. It’s not. You guys-- you guys have done some bad stuff to me in the past and it’s  _ not rude _ for me to address it. You guys d-don’t have to give me an apology or anything, but I  _ needed  _ to talk to you all about this. I don’t wanna put up with how it makes me feel anymore! I-- I’ve been having  _ nightmares _ about this stuff, y’know.. Since forever. And I’ve never really told you because I figured you wouldn’t take me seriously or you’d.. You’d hate me for it and kick me out.”   
  
Pearl frowned, reaching out a hand. “Oh, Steven, we’d never--”   
  
“I know, I know.” Steven sighed, curling up more. “But it feels like it. It feels like.. If I don’t help you.. And don’t do all the stuff I don’t wanna do, then you’ll hate me and kick me out and think I’m selfish. But.. um.. I’ve realized that.. That it’s not selfish to stand up for yourself and.. Tell you guys how I feel when you do something that makes me sad or hurts me.”   
  
“Did Twoie teach you to talk like this?” Amethyst mumbled, anger gone.   
  
Steven looked up at Twoie. Twoie glanced at him.

Steven took a deep breath.

“Well.. Twoie made me realize all this, yeah, but this is how I  _ really feel. _ And I don’t wanna grow up not being able to trust my friends like him.”   
  
Twoie blushed and looked away as the gems glanced to him with varying degrees of concern.

“So.. yeah.” Steven finished. “I’m doing this. And I’m not gonna apologize for it.”

He turned to Garnet. “Garnet.”

Garnet tensed up, steadying herself.

Steven thought.    
  
“...”   
  
He scrunched his brows together.   
  
“Um. I.. I can’t actually.. Think of anything?”

Garnet smiled.   
  
“WHAT!?” Amethyst shouted. “So we get dragged and she gets off scott-free?? That’s not fair!”   
  
“Oh, u-um,” Steven bit his lip. “I- I dunno! Maybe I can think of something??”   
  
“No, Steven.” Twoie patted his back. “If Garnet did nothing wrong, that’s good.”   
  
“Well, yeah, obviously.” Steven said. “But there was so much stuff with Pearl and Amethyst…”   
  
“That’s their fault.”   
  
“Hey!” Amethyst huffed.   
  
“It is!” Twoie shouted back. “It’s  _ your  _ fault! Your actions are because of  _ you! _ Now either own up and think about it or don’t apologize and get out.”

Silence.

Amethyst grumbled something to herself and buried her head in her knees.   
  
Steven sighed shakily.   
  
“... Wait!” He said. “I-- oh, I actually do have something.”

Garnet tensed again. Amethyst peeked at him. Pearl wrung her hands together.   
  
“This is… kinda sm-small but.. Sometimes I feel like you guys don’t take me seriously.. I know I’m not the best Crystal Gem or anything, but I wish you’d, um, listen to me more sometimes. Like when I saw Peridot’s robot thingy in the stream, you all, um, mostly just ignored me? And then  _ told me how I felt _ , which sucked.”

Garnet and Pearl mumbled some apologies sheepishly.   
  
“Sorry.” Amethyst said. “And, uh, sorry for calling you a stupid sad sack then.”   
  
“It’s okay.” Steven reassured. Twoie glanced at him.

“Like, actually okay.” Steven reassured again. “It’s really okay. Um.. oh, and.. I know you all don’t like my dad, but can you please not hate him in front of me? I- I’m not saying  _ don’t _ hate him because you’re allowed to, y’know, feel however you want, but he’s my dad and I love him and.. Yeah.”   
  
More apologies. 

Steven sighed. “Okay, that’s all. I’m sorry. I just-- I needed to get this off my chest before things got worse. I- I love you guys. I’m sorry If I came off as rude or stupid.”   
  
“You didn’t.” Twoie said, rubbing his back again. “Don’t worry.”

Pearl nodded. “Yes. Er- even though it wasn’t… the most  _ pleasant _ experience to relive our past mistakes, I’d much rather you tell us how you’re feeling then hide it from us.”   
  
Garnet hummed in agreement.

Steven got up and opened his arms timidly.   
  
“Family hug?”   
  
Pearl chuckled weakly and hugged him. Garnet too and Amethyst joined in, still quiet.

“I love you guys.” Steven said.   
  
“We love you, too, Steven.” Pearl said, giving him a kiss on the forehead. Steven giggled. Garnet gave him one, too, and he laughed. “Aw, you guys!”   
  
They smiled and separated from the hug. Amethyst went to her room. Steven frowned.

Twoie got up.   
  
Steven turned to him. “Wait, Twoie.”   
  
“Hm?”   
  
“I need to talk to you, too.”   
  
Twoie recoiled, eyes wide. “Oh! Uh- okay.” He nodded quickly and sat down. Steven came over and held his hands.   
  
“Now, this is small.. But.. sometimes you can kinda.. Be.. um.. Kinda rude when we’re talking about the future? Like… like the present doesn’t matter.”   
  
Twoie nodded. “Uh-huh. O-okay. Yeah, sorry.”   
  
“Also, try to swear less around me.”   
  
Twoie flushed. Garnet snickered. 

“You’ve been swearing?!” Pearl cried out. Twoie hid his face. “Sorry.. Habit..”   
  
“Young man, I swear, if I ever catch you swearing, you’re grounded for a year.” Pearl narrowed her eyes. Twoie nodded. “I get it, thank you, Pearl. Sorry, Steven.”   
  
“It’s okay.” Steven smiled, patting Twoie’s hands that covered his face.    


“So, are we done?” Pearl asked. Steven nodded. “Yep! Thanks, guys!”   
  
“Of course.” Garnet smiled. The two went to their respective rooms. 

Twoie removed his hands and sighed. “Ehe.. do you feel better now, Steven?”   
  
“Yes!” Steven grinned. “I.. I mean, it wasn’t the best seeing them get sad, but I actually feel a lot better.”   
  
“That’s good.” Twoie hugged him. Steven hugged back. “M-hmm!”   
  
Steven pulled back. “Wait, did you eat the breakfast I made you?”

  
Twoie scratched the back of his neck. “E-he.. sorry, no..”   
  
Steven shrugged, getting off the couch and heading to the kitchen. “I’ll just heat it u-- where’d it go?!”   
  
Twoie looked up and saw that the food had vanished.   
  
“I guess Amethyst must’ve taken it.” He said.   
  
Steven groaned. “Guess I’m making lunch.” Twoie chuckled, getting up and following him to the kitchen as Steven prepared some ingredients for lunch. Twoie smiled, feeling a warmth swell up in his chest.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Leave a comment if you enjoyed!!


	24. Mr. Greg

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Greg, Pearl, Steven, and Twoie go to Empire City.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This won't be from Steven's perspective, just a warning. I couldn't tell the story w/o it not being from his perspective.
> 
> tw// blood

It had been two days and one night since Bismuth’s departure, and the effects of that night were still felt throughout the house. There was a Twoie sized dent next to the door with dried blood underneath, the floorboards were hastily nailed back into the floor, the coffee table was gone since Twoie broke it with his scream, and there was a faded bloodstain on the left wall, next to a Bismuth sized dent. Nobody really talked about it, but they were all feeling tense. 

Steven knew that Pearl and Garnet probably felt horrible about their friend being violent towards Twoie and Steven. Steven felt very uncomfortable, especially whenever he spotted the blood. He would clean it up, but it seemed soaked into the floorboards. He knew Twoie must be feeling weird about it, too, considering he actively avoided looking at any of the damage-- and when he did, he’d get tense and immediately focus on something else.

Right now Steven, Twoie, and Amethyst were upstairs watching Crying Breakfast Friends. It was a re-run so nobody was really paying close attention. Twoie was on his phone and showed Steven funny videos or pictures of kittens every once in a while to Steven and Amethyst. Amethyst had her own phone and just showed them memes. Steven didn’t have his on him but didn’t care. 

“Hey, is Crying Breakfast Friends good in the future?” He asked Twoie.  
  
“Yeah.” Twoie said. “Well, it’s over now, but it had a good ending. I think they’re making a sequel series soon..? Supposed to take a darker look at the show.”   
  
“Ooh!!” Steven gasped. “That’ll be so cool!”   
  
“‘Darker look’?” Amethyst rolled her eyes. “This show’s just about crying and singing, how can there be anything dark in it.”

Steven huffed. “I’ll have you know that this show is _very_ deep.”   
  
“Yeah.” Twoie nodded. “Very deep and cool. You just haven’t really watched it.”   
  
Amethyst snorted. “You guys are nerds.”   
  
Twoie stuck out his tongue at her. Steven chuckled.

Suddenly, Pearl called from downstairs. “Twoie! Steven! Can you come down here?”  
  
Twoie and Steven turned to look at her and nodded.   
  
“Uh, sure!” Twoie said, getting up with Steven following close behind. Downstairs, Pearl was fidgeting nervously.   
  
“So… About Bismuth.” She began. Twoie winced.

“What about her?” Steven asked. “Is she.. Coming back soon?”  
  
“That’s what I wanted to ask you about..” Pearl said. “Twoie, I know that you might not be the most comfortable with Bismuth in the house, and she still is, of course, in exile, until you are… _however_ I _know_ that deep down Bismuth is a good gem that.. Once we explain everything to her, wouldn’t hurt you.”

Twoie sighed. “I know. I know she’s.. Nice. I’m friends with her in the future, remember?”  
  
Pearl nodded. “Right.”   
  
“But..” Twoie bit his lip. “She didn’t s-stab me back then. Things weren’t this… messy.”   
  
He glanced at the bloodstain on the wall and the dent next to it. Pearl sighed.   
  
“I know. But we’re going to explain everything to her.. About Rose and Pink.. and so maybe she’ll understand..? We just want to know when you’ll be okay with her coming back.”   
  
“Not now.” Twoie said. “N- not now.”   
  
Steven frowned and looked down at the floorboards, ripped and missing a few nails. His mind wandered back to that night, when Twoie screamed so loud… Sometimes he forgot that Twoie was him, but when he really thought about it, it scared him. There were so many things he’d have to go through before the world would be saved and he wasn’t sure he was ready for that. And even though Twoie was here to protect him, he still felt guilty that Twoie was taking all the hits for him. Just because he’s older doesn’t mean that he should _have_ to deal with all of Steven’s problems, especially if they were like _that_.

The silence was broken by the sound of someone racing up the steps in flip-flops. They turned as the door swung open, revealing an excastic greg.  
  
 _“WHO WANTS TO GO ON_ **_VACAAAATIOOOOONNNNN!?”_ **

Silence.

Greg faltered.  
  
“Uh. Oh… sorry, bad time again?”   
  
Twoie chuckled. “Uh.. maybe… but, uh, what’s this about vacation?” He walked over to Greg. 

“Okay, so, you’ll never believe it but your old man… is filthy stinkin’ _rich_!”

He excitedly flipped out a cheque for $10,000,000, showing it to Steven and Twoie.  
  
“WHAT!?” Steven shouted. “HOW??”

Twoie beamed. “Oh, that’s great!”

Greg tilted his head.  
  
“I get ten million dollars and you aren’t even surprised?”   
  
Twoie snorted. “Dad, I’m from the future, I knew you were gonna be rich.”   
  
“What!?” Greg gasped. “Why didn’t you _tell_ me!? I could’ve turned down so many bad customers!!”   
  
Twoie shrugged.

“Dad! Dad!” Steven yanked on his tank top. “DAAAAAAAAAAD!”  
  
“I’m not that far away, Steven.”   
  
“HOW DID YOU GET ALL THIS MONEY!?”

“Well, y’know Marty? My old manager?”  
  
Steven nodded. “Yeah?”   
  
“Well, turns out he sold my song as a bunger jingle and now I get a cut of the pay!”   
  
“I don’t know what most of that means but that’s great!!” Steven cheered. 

“Yeah! And now I think we should all go on a family vacation! Just me and my boys!” 

Greg scooped up Steven and brought Twoie in for two big bear hugs. Steven laughed.

“OW!” Twoie hissed, squirming. Greg flinched and let go, letting Twoie stumble back and grip his sides.

“Whoa, are you okay?” Greg asked, pocketing the cheque. “I knew my bear hugs were tight, but…”  
  
“No, no, it’s fine.” Twoie sighed. “Just.. ugh.. Sorry..”   
  
Steven frowned. “Does your back _still_ hurt? Maybe we should go to a doctor..”   
  
“No, no..” Twoie shook his head. “Just sore.. Might just be phantom pain, too.”

“Whoa, hey, what happened?” Greg asked, setting down Steven. “If you need to go to a doctor, Twoie, I can get you to a doctor.. It’s not that big of a deal..”  
  
“No, no.” Twoie shook his head again, quicker. “I’m good. Just…” He sighed. “Sorry.”

Greg furrowed his brows.  
  
Steven bit his lip. “... Soooooo.. Where are we going?”   
  
“Well, we’re not going anywhere unless you guys wanna go there, but I was thinking Empire City?”   
  
“Empire City!?” Steven beamed. “Yes!! Yes!! Twoie, what do you think?”   
  
Twoie gave a thumbs up.   
  
“Yay!” Steven ran off. “I’m gonna go pack!”

Greg smiled as Steven went upstairs and started to go through his things. His eyes caught on something as he was watching him, though. The floorboards looked messed up near the warp pad and there was a dent in the wall-- and a bloodstain?

“What… happened here?” Greg asked, turning to Twoie. Twoie bit his lip and shrugged, avoiding Greg’s eyes. Greg furrowed his brow and then jolted as he caught sight of the dent behind him and the blood below him.  
  
“Holy moly!” He jumped off the blood stain. “Who’s blood is this?? What happ-- why is there blood here?” 

Silence.  
  
Greg felt himself start to sweat. “Uh.. anyone? C’mon, this is-- only humans can bleed. Did..” He looked up at Twoie. “Did one of you get hurt last night?”   
  
Twoie sighed. “It’s, uh.. Jam.”   
  
Greg squinted. “Twoie, that’s not jam.”   
  
“It is.”   
  
“Twoie, I can tell the difference between jam and blood. A-and even if it was jam, why’s there this dent in the wall?”   
  
Twoie crossed his arms. “Don’t worry about it. We’re taking care of it.” 

Greg bit his lip. “Was this.. Because of an enemy gem?”

“Stop asking me about it.” Twoie huffed, going upstairs. Greg frowned.

When Twoie came upstairs, he started packing. Steven looked up at him.  
  
“Twoie..” he whispered. “Why are you being weird around dad? Aren’t you supposed to share your feelings?” 

Twoie nodded. “Mhmm.”  
  
“Then why--”   
  
“I don’t want him to worry. It’s not like he can _do_ anything about it.” He huffed. “Whatever, just.. I’m not ready to think about what happened.”

Steven nodded slowly and went back to packing his bag. 

Later, halfway done, he noticed that Twoie had stopped.

“What’s wrong?” Steven whispered.   
  
Twoie shrugged. “I dunno.. Last time I went to Empire City with dad, Pearl came along and it didn’t work out great.”   
  
“What??” Steven frowned. “Why wouldn’t it work out? Why was Pearl there?”   
  
“Because if they go on vacation together, they’ll finally make up. But--”   
  
“Wait, really!?” Steven gasped. “They’ll make up?? And get along?? And like eachother??”   
  
Twoie blinked. “Uh, well, yes, they have an understanding I guess, but--”   
  
“HEY, DAD??” Steven shouted downstairs. Greg looked up. “Huh??”   
  
“CAN WE BRING PEARL?”   
  
“What!?” He and Pearl exclaimed at the same time. 

“IT’LL BE FUN!” Steven beamed. “We’ll order room service, go to a fancy restaurant, _get along with each other,_ have fun-- it’ll be the perfect family vacation!”   
  
Twoie facepalmed.

Greg and Pearl made awkward eye contact. 

Steven finished packing quickly and hopped downstairs.  
  
“Family vacation!”   
  
Greg and Pearl sighed, realizing they really didn’t have a choice.   
  
“Alright..” Greg groaned. “Uh, Twoie? You coming?”   
  
Twoie shrugged. “I dunno.”   
  
Steven crossed his arms. “C’mon, I know you wanna get outta the house.”   
  
Twoie flushed and hunched up. “... Ugh.”   
  
He finished packing and went downstairs. 

Greg stole one last glance at the broken house before they all left for the van.

**\----------**

They arrived at Empire City late at night and were immediately treated like royalty due to how much money Greg had. Their dinner was the finest steak and brie in a high class restaurant, their room was the penthouse suite on the top floor with an excellent view _and_ it’s own pool and fountain. Once inside, the owner and the butlers wished them a pleasant stay and exited. 

Greg and Steven wasted no time getting into their swimsuits and diving in, while Twoie and Pearl sat on the sidelines. Pearl gently touched the water to see how warm it was while Twoie just watched Steven have fun.

“Hey, Twoie!” Greg called. “What’re you doing? Get in the pool!~”  
  
Twoie smiled tightly. “Uh, I dunno..”   
  
“C’mon~” Steven coaxed with his dad. “The water’s nice~ And we might never get to do this again~”

Twoie looked over to Pearl. Pearl furrowed her brows. “What?”  
  
“Nothing.” Twoie looked away. “Uh, fine. Okay. Let me just get my swimsuit on.” 

Greg and Steven whooped, to Pearl’s annoyance. Twoie got out his trunks and went to the bathroom. After a minute, he came out in his yellow trunks and black shirt. 

Steven tilted his head. “Why’re you still in your shirt?”  
  
Twoie shrugged tensely. “Uh- just.. Because?”   
  
“If you’re worried about your wound, I’m sure it won’t bleed out into the pool. Just take off your bandages first.” Pearl chimed in.   
  
Twoie paled. Greg stopped floating in the pool and sat up.   
  
“Whoa, whoa.. What?”   
  
Twoie blushed. “...”   
  
Steven frowned. “Twoie, it’s okay. Just come have fun with us.”   
  
Twoie pressed his lips together in thought before defeatedly taking off his shirt, revealing the bandages coated in dried blood around his back. He slipped them off and tossed them into a nearby trash can. 

Steven smiled and patted the water. “Come on in!”  
  
Twoie smiled weakly and hopped in, swimming over to Steven.

Greg stared at Twoie’s back, taking notice of the rounded scar with a slash leading out of it. He felt his blood run cold and gulped, glancing to Pearl.  
  
Pearl didn’t seem to notice, too busy watching Steven and Twoie get along as Steven tried to loosen him up. Greg waded over to Pearl and tapped her knee.   
  
“Pearl.” He whispered. Pearl tensed. “Uh, yes, Greg?”

“What happened to Twoie?”  
  
Pearl breathed through grit teeth, tensing up more. “...”   
  
“ _Please_ .” Greg begged. “I-I’m just concerned.”   
  
Pearl thought for a moment before shaking her head. “Sorry, um.. No. I.. I don’t think Twoie wants to think about that night. If he hasn’t told you, it.. Isn’t my place to tell you, either.”   
  
Greg groaned. “Ugh, you’re right.. I just..” He glanced back at Twoie, who was splashing with Steven and starting to have fun.   
  
“I just wish he’d trust me more. I know he knows that I’m there for him.”   
  
Pearl nodded. “... It’s difficult, raising a child. I thought they were just like people when we first got Steven.. But... they’re so much _different_ . More sensitive, emotional… they see the world in a **completely** different way than we do and…”   
  
She brought her knees to her chest.   
  
“I can’t believe it took me this long to figure out.”

Greg glanced up at her. 

“... Yeah.” 

He leaned back against the pool. 

“Aww.” Steven smiled, looking over at them.

“Hm?” Pearl perked up. 

“You guys are getting along!~” Steven sang.   
  
Greg chuckled and looked back up at Pearl. Pearl huffed and stood. “No, we’re just.. Talking. I-I don’t know. I.. I’m going to unpack the luggage. Goodbye.”   
  
“Aw, why don’t you swim with us??” Steven called.   
  
“I can’t swim, Steven. Gem’s can’t float in water.”

“Oh.” Steven frowned.

Greg sighed as she walked away, catching Steven’s sad look.  
  
“Don’t worry, kiddo.” He smiled weakly. “It’s always been this way.”   
  
“Just talk to her.” Twoie said.

Greg shrugged. “I’ve tried to, Twoie. She doesn’t wanna.”

“She _does_ , though. She needs someone who knows what’s she’s going through, y’know? All of this is just a.. Big misunderstanding.”

Greg looked over his shoulder at the bedroom door where Pearl was.  
  
“... How are you so sure?”   
  
“ _Because_ I’ve been through this already. Tonight she’s probably gonna talk to herself about how sad she is that.. That mom is gone and then you guys are gonna _argue_ and then Steven makes you two talk about your _feelings_ and it works out.”   
  
Greg stared at him and then chuckled a little. “Wow, are you living, like, _Groundhog Day_ right now?”   
  
“Kinda.” Twoie said. “Just talk to her, dad. It’ll be okay.”

“Mm.” Dad sighed. “Alright, maybe I will. Thanks.”  
  
Steven swam over and hugged Greg. “I know you can do it, dad. That’s why I brought Pearl along, y’know.”   
  
“Ohhh.” Greg nodded. “I see. That’s thoughtful, Steven, but I can handle myself, y’know? All you gotta worry about is having fun.” He pat his head.   
  
Steven smiled. “Okay.”

Greg glanced up at Twoie, who was spacing out again. Greg’s eyes drifted down to his stomach, where the bandages were.

He sighed.

 **\-----**

That night, Greg was able to get Pearl before he went to sleep. They sat down in the main room on one of the couches, overlooking Empire City.

Greg sighed, looking up at her. They’d been sitting in silence for a few moments, and he didn’t know what to say.  
  
“... Look,” he began, getting Pearl to glance at him. ‘If I were you, I’d hate me, too.”   
  
Pearl frowned. “I don’t hate you…”

“But, I knew how you felt about Rose, and I stayed anyway.”  
  
“That wasn’t the problem.” She sighed.   
  
“Then what was?”   
  
“She fell in love with _you_.”

Greg pressed his lips into a thin line. “Well.. you know Rose.” He smiled at her. Pearl chuckled weakly.  
  
“She always did what she wanted!” They said in unison, then laughed.   
  
“Ah..” Pearl sighed, looking out to Empire City. “I’m sorry I never.. Talked to you. You’re an important part of Steven’s life.. A-and ours. I should’ve said something.”   
  
“It’s okay. I should’ve, too.” 

Pearl looked back over to him and smiled tightly. “...”  
  
She frowned.   
  
“Y’know, Stev.. I..”   
  
She sighed and put her knees to her chest.

Greg furrowed his brows. “What’s wrong? Is.. is there something else? Are we… still not on good terms?”  
  
“No, no, that’s not it. We’re on good terms.”   
  
Greg nodded slowly. “Okay… then what is it?”   
  
Pearl looked over to the bedroom where Twoie and Steven were sleeping.

Greg gulped. “Is.. is this about what happened?”  
  
“Not really.” Pearl said. “It’s about.. What happened right after. Steven sat us all down and um.. Talked to us about he was feeling.”   
  
“That’s good.”   
  
“Yes, but.. I..”   
  
She sniffled, facing away from Greg.   
  
“He told me that.. That he thought I.. I wanted him to die s-so Rose could come back.”   
  
Greg breathed out slowly. “Oh, wow.”   
  
“And..” Pearl buried her head in her knees. “And I know why he thinks that.”   
  
Greg sat up more. “W.. why does he think that?”   
  
“I’ve almost killed him. An-and almost let him die. On two separate occasions, he almost.. Died because of me.”

“ _What?”_

“That- that night, in the rocket ship?” She looked over, eyes filled with tears. “You remember that, right? That.. if I hadn’t of snapped out of my trance, he would’ve.. And.. and there was this other night, where I was running away from him because I was-- well-- you don’t need to know the details-- but as he was chasing me, he fell and I.. I didn’t rescue him. I didn’t even try.”  
  
She wiped her eyes.   
  
“A-and at the time, when my mind wasn’t completely right, I just thought that e-either he had just died and I couldn’t do anything to save him or he’d be fine. All I was focused on was _running away_ that I didn’t even realize he would see my inaction as _wanting_ him to die.”   
  
Greg scooted closer to her and gently set a hand on her back. She didn’t move away. 

“I’m.. sorry to hear that.”

“We’ve been horrible caretakers.” Pearl croaked out. “We don’t know the first thing about children and it _shows_ . I just thought that he was- was fine! He was okay! But.. but he’s just been hiding this from us. I’ve been thinking about him moving back in with you.”   
  
“What??” Greg recoiled. “But I-- I don’t have a house!”   
  
“Buy one, then, you’re rich! He- he can’t be around us anymore-- everything’s so dangerous and-- and you saw what happened to Twoie!”   
  


Greg gulped. “What _did_ happen to Twoie?”   
  
Pearl stiffened up.   
  
“...”   
  
She shook her head. “Nevermind, just.. You should take him back. With how short your life is, you should be spending more time with him anyways.”

Greg sighed. “Maybe.. But I’d have to figure out where we’d live and.. And if he’d even want that. Won’t I mess up his.. His gem upbringing or whatever?”

Pearl huffed. “I don’t know. Just take him, please. Obviously, we aren’t doing a good enough job.”

It was silent.  
  
Greg moved back from her. “... We’ll talk more about it in the morning.”   
  
Pearl sighed. “Of course. And.. I’m sorry. For not being a good caretaker.”   
  
“It’s alright. You’ve been trying your best, I know you have.” Greg reassured. “It’s hard. Especially with a kid like Steven. Since he’s, y’know, not really gem or human.”   
  
Pearl nodded. “Mhmm.”

Greg glanced to the bedroom.  
  
“So… about Twoie. Tell me what happened.”   
  
Pearl got up. “I think it’d be best if he told you himself. I don’t wanna step on any boundaries.”   
  
Greg got up, too. “Got it. Um.. well, then. I’m glad we talked.” He held out his hand for a handshake.   
  
Pearl looked down at it and smiled, shaking his hand. “Same here. Goodnight, Greg.”

“Goodnight, Pearl.”

Pearl walked to the sliding glass door and stood on the balcony, overlooking the city. 

Greg went towards the bedroom. He creaked open the door slowly so as to not wake the kids. But it seemed it was a waste as Twoie was on his balcony, sat down, taking deep breaths and staring up at the sky instead of sleeping. Greg furrowed his brows and watched as his breathing got quicker, then slowed, then he shook and whined.   
  
“Goddamnit--” He muttered to himself. 

Greg stepped in, the floorboards creaking beneath him. Twoie spun around and stood up, breathing hard. “... D-dad?”  
  
“Twoie.” Greg said, stepping in. “What’s wrong?”   
  
“N-nothing.”   
  
Greg sighed. “Twoie, please. I know something happened. Why won’t you tell me? I.. I’m here for you. If something’s wrong, I wanna help you with it.”   
  
“You can’t help me.”   
  
“Why not?”   
  
“It’s a gem thing.”   
  
Greg put his hands on his hips. “Well, I can still help my son not have a panic attack _because_ of a gem thing.”   
  
Twoie paled and groaned. “W-well, if I tell you, you.. You might not want me or Steven around the gems anymore.”   
  
“A bit too late for that, kiddo, Pearl said that.. That it would be best if Steven stayed with me.”   
  
_“What!?”_ Twoie gasped loudly. They tensed and immediately stared at Steven, who only grumbled in his sleep and rolled over. They let out a breath of relief.   
  
“Calm down, I haven’t made a decision yet.” Greg said, walking towards Twoie. “Plus, I would need Steven’s opinion.”

“Dad, I love you, but Steven _cannot_ live with you.”   
  
“Why not?”   
  
“Because..” 

Twoie sighed. “Because.”

He sat down again, curled up towards the city. Greg walked over and sat by him.  
  
“Well, if you don’t tell me, I don’t exactly know why he can’t stay with me, Schtwoie-ball.”   
  
“ _Schtwoie-ball?”_ Twoie snorted. “That’s horrible.”   
  
“Hey! I was trying something out.” Greg smiled. 

Twoie chuckled weakly and looked back to the skyline. “... I guess, I just.. Don't want you to worry. It’s best you not know what we- what.. Um.. he has to go through.”  
  
“I’d rather know.”

“Even if you couldn’t do anything about it?”  
  
Greg bit his lip. “... Well.. maybe I could--”   
  
“You can’t. Nobody can. There are certain.. _Events_ in his life I don’t think he can alter. Events that will mess him up. Events that still haunt me to this day. He’s the Saviour of the Universe, but also the sacrifice.” 

“...” Greg gulped. “That’s uh.. Concerning.”

Twoie blushed. “Sorry. I just.. Ugh. It’s true, though.”  
  
“... Well, even so, I wanna help him deal with it. Like I wanna help you right now. If I can’t control what happens to him, I wanna control how he feels about it.”   
  
Twoie smiled. “... heh. That- that’s not a bad idea. Okay. I.. I’ll tell you. I guess starting with what happened to _me._ ”   
  
Greg nodded.

Twoie uncurled, now sitting cross legged.

“I was stabbed.”  
  
Greg felt his stomach lurch. _“Huh?”_

“I was stabbed.” Twoie repeated. “I was running from this gem, Bismuth, one of mom’s old friends she bubbled away. She had just told me she wanted to train me to be the ‘ _Ultimate Weapon_ ’ because of my powers.. Then she thought I was mom after some stuff and tried to kill me. So, I ran. I was gonna go for the warp pad, but before I could, she slammed a giant spike into me and then uh.. Sent me flying, I guess.” He shrugged, starting to shake. “I woke up the next morning and freaked out.”   
  
“ _Jesus_.” Greg mumbled.

Twoie sighed. “Yeah. But I think the worst part is that Steven saw all of it. I was.. I was trying to _protect_ him, y’know? Because if I didn’t protect him the night before that night then _he_ would be on the other end of a spike.”   
  
“He- he would’ve?”   
  
“Mhmm. W-when I..”   
  
He trailed off and took a few deep breaths. “Sh-shoot.”   
  
“Hey, hey, it’s okay.” Greg patted his upper back, careful to avoid the scar. “I’m here for you. You’re safe.”   
  
Twoie nodded and scooted closer, hugging Greg. “mm.. R-right. Um, so, a-anyways.. When _I_ was a kid, Bismuth took me down to her forge one night and.. And showed me a weapon that could shatter gems _very_ quickly.”   
  
“Shatter?” Greg asked.   
  
“Murder. Breaking the gem into thousands of shards.”

Greg shuddered. “Okay..”

“So, she showed me it, and asked me to try it out. Of course, I was against the idea, and then she um.. She said that that’s exactly what _mom_ said and.. And..” He teared up. “Um, then she tried to shatter _me_ . She couldn’t, though, because I poofed her before she could.” 

Greg nodded along.  
  
“So.. that same night, _this_ time, I stopped her from taking Steven down to the forge. But she got really mad and.. _I_ got really m-mad and I ended up accidentally hurting her and Ste--”

He cut himself off.  
  
“You hurt Steven?” Greg asked, no venom to his words.   
  
“I didn’t mean to. I never would’ve. I just.. I lost control. I’ve-- I have stress response issues and um.. They’ve been under control for a _long_ time but I lost it. And screamed. And that broke everything around me. K-kinda like Carrie? Y’know?”   
  
Greg paled. “Yeesh. So that’s why there was a dent in the wall.. And.. and the blood?”   
  
“Steven’s nose broke.”   
  
“...” Greg sighed. “Well, you were in a traumatic situation, I can’t blame you too much.”   
  
Twoie smiled. “T-thanks. I-- you know I’d never hurt him on purpose.”   
  
“I know.”   
  
Twoie breathed a sigh of relief. “Oh, thank goodness.”

“So.. how’s your back?”  
  
“Okay. Just sore.” Twoie said. “Also, please don’t ask me, I can’t think about it right now.”   
  
Greg hugged him close. “Oh, Steven..”   
  
Twoie hugged him back and whimpered. “Mm..”

“So..” Greg began, rubbing his back. “Is that what you meant by ‘events I can’t control’? Was that it?”  
  
Twoie shook his head and chuckled. “Oh, god, I wish…”   
  
He pulled back and explained to Greg the hospital, The Cluster, Jasper, being alone in space, the zoo, Aquamarine and Topaz, the ball, being locked up, and White Diamond. He also told him about Rose Quartz and Pink Diamond. Greg took that well, but the rest… he ended up having a panic attack. Twoie helped him through it and decided to stop there.   
  
“So..” Greg heaved. “There’s _nothing_ we can do? He’s just _doomed_ to all this because of Rose??”   
  
“Well..” Twoie looked back at Steven. “I think most of it is preventable, thankfully.. Being alone in space, the human zoo, the kidnappings-- _maybe_ , um.. But..”   
  
He teared up.   
  
“There’s- there’s nothing much that can be done about Homeworld and White. Just make-make sure Connie’s with him when it happens.”   
  
Greg wiped his eyes and buried his head in his hands. “God, Rose… what have you done?”

Twoie put a hand on his back.  
  
“Look on the bright side.. Most of it is preventable. And, um, now that you know, he can get treatment soon..?”   
  
Greg nodded. “Yeah.. yeah.”   
  
Twoie frowned.   
  
“Sorry. I.. I shouldn’t have told you. I’m a real jerk, huh?”   
  
“No, no.” Greg wiped his eyes. “I asked. I _needed_ to know. S-so I can be there for him.” 

Twoie didn’t look convinced, but nodded anyways. “Yeah…”  
  
“I just wish there was something I could do.”   
  
“You can be there for him.” Twoie said. “And I can be here to protect him from all that. I already took a bullet from Bismuth.”   
  
“I don’t want _you_ hurt either!”

“I’ll be erased from existence soon, dad, it’ll be okay.”

Greg shook his head. “No, absolutely not. That-- we _all_ will be! I’ll die one day! Doesn’t mean it’s okay for me to _suffer_!”

Twoie bit his lip guilty. “...”

“Why don’t the _gems_ help you? _What_? A- Are they just sitting about all day while you and Steven are getting tortured?”

Twoie shrugged tensely. “Uh.. well, they try their best.”  
  
“Not good enough.” Greg wiped his eyes. “They need to be there for you and Steven. They’re immortal beings, they should protect you.”   
  
“... yeah.” Twoie sighed. “Yeah, maybe they should. I.. I guess I’ll talk to them about it or something.”

“I can do it.” Greg said. “I can talk to them.”  
  
“But…” 

Twoie sighed, resigned. “Mm. I guess. Maybe we’ll decide in the morning?”  
  
“Sure.” Greg sniffled. “Ah, god.. Sorry for breaking down in front of ‘ya, Schtu-ball. It’s just a lot.”   
  
“I get it.” Twoie curled up. “...” 

“Hey.” Greg placed a hand on his shoulder. “Don’t feel guilty for telling me. I _needed_ and _wanted_ to know this. Don’t shoot the messenger, right?” 

Twoie chuckled weakly. “I guess so.”

“You want me to stay out here with you?”  
  
“Nah, I’m gonna go to sleep.” Twoie said. “Goodnight, dad.”   
  
“Goodnight, Twoie. And thanks for telling me.”   
  
“Of course.”   
  
Greg got up. “... and, feel free to talk to me. About anything. Gem stuff, human stuff.. Whatever. That goes for Steven, too, let him know that.”   
  
Twoie grinned. “I will.”   
  
Greg made his way across the room and into his own bedroom, connected to theirs. 

Twoie stayed up another hour before finally climbing into bed and falling asleep, the song of the city buzzing in the background.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Leave a comment if you enjoyed!


	25. Rock Bottom

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Amethyst and Twoie have a talk

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this wasn't beta read 
> 
> tw// almost emeto

“We’re home!~” Steven called into the kitchen, tossing his bags to the side. Twoie, Pearl, and Greg behind him set down their stuff as well.   
  
“Welcome back.” Garnet said. 

“Yoooo!~” Amethyst waved. “Vacation went good?”   
  
“Mhmm!” Steven nodded. “It went alright!”   
  
Twoie bit his lip. “Uh. Yeah. Went great.”   
  
Pearl picked up their luggage and went upstairs to sort it away. Greg sighed.   
  
“Hey, I gotta talk to you guys about something real quick… that alright?”   
  
“Uh..” Amethyst glanced at Garnet. Garnet gave no response. Amethyst shrugged. “Sure?”   
  
“So… I was talking with Twoie last night and he.. Brought some things to my attention. And those…  _ things _ made me realize that I should be spending more time with my son. So, if Steven would want me.. I’d like to stay here for a while.”

Steven gasped. “Yeah!! You should stay!!”   
  
“Wow, real specific.” Amethyst huffed, ignoring Steven. “But, sorry, Greg, you can’t stay here. It’s not safe for a human.”   
  
“Yes.” Garnet adjusted her visor. “Human beings shouldn’t be near the temple.”   
  
Greg crossed his arms. “Well, they’re half human, why can they stay?”   
  
“Because they’re  _ half _ human.” Garnet said. “They’re not soft like you.”   
  
Greg bit his lip and frowned, slumping a bit.   
  
Twoie rested a hand on his dad’s shoulder and looked to them.   
  
“Please, guys. Let him stay. If there’s any trouble, he could warp away or.. Just run. A-and even if he dies, I can bring him back, so--”   
  
“What?!” Greg and Amethyst exclaimed at the same time.    
  
“What’d’ya mean  _ bring him back _ !?” Amethyst yelled. “You can’t bring humans back from the dead!”   
  
“Yeah!” Greg said. “And I don’t wanna turn into a zombie!”

Twoie bit his lip.   
  
“I  _ can _ bring people back to life. I’ve done it before and.. And if worst comes to worst, I can do it to dad… but, y’know, hopefully that doesn’t happen… and- and you won’t be a zombie! You’ll just be you but.. Without needing to eat or sleep or drink and you’ll be pink.”   
  
Greg shook his head. “Uh.. Sorry, Schtu-ball, I’m not really grasping what you’re telling me here..”   
  
Twoie whined. “What I’m basically saying is that even if it’s dangerous, you should be allowed to stay… We can protect you, too…”   
  
Steven nodded. “Yeah, dad.” He walked up and hugged him. “I want you to stay.”   
  
Greg smiled softly and leaned down to hold him back.

Amethyst frowned and looked to Garnet.   
  
Garnet sighed. “We can.. Try it. See what happens.”   
  
“Really??” Steven grinned. “Oh, thanks, Garnet! And, dad, I promise I won’t let you get hurt.”   
  
Greg patted his head. “Thanks, Scthu-ball. And, thanks, Garnet.”   
  
Garnet gave a thumbs up.

The warp pad suddenly lit up and the familiar tune of the warp whistle rang out from it. Twoie frowned. “Uh.. who’s..?”   
  
“It’s Bismuth.” Pearl said. “We gave her a warp whistle so she can let us know when she wants to talk to us without her actually coming here.”   
  
“Oh.” Twoie blinked. “That’s-- very practical.”   
  
“Yes.” Pearl nodded. “After what happened last time, I doubt you want her in the house.”   
  
Twoie chuckled. “Hehe.. yeah.. I don’t…”   
  
Steven frowned.

“I’ll see what she wants.” Garnet said, stepping onto the warp and warping away.   
  
“Well…” Greg said, scratching the back of his neck. “I’m gonna go get my van… Wanna come with, Stchu-ball?”   
  
“Huh?” Steven looked up. “Oh, uh, sure.”   
  
He casted a glance towards the warp before leaving with Greg.

“So…” Pearl wrung her hands together. “Twoie… do you think you’d be willing to at least  _ talk  _ to Bismuth sometime soon?”   
  
“Why?” Twoie asked.   
  
“... I miss her.” She sighed. “We all do. Even if she did some  _ horrible _ things I  _ know _ she is a good gem inside… and you do, too, right? You’re friends in the future..!”   
  
Twoie sighed. “Yeah… I guess.”   
  
He looked down and thumbed his jacket. He bit his lip and then looked to the warp pad.   
  
“Where is she staying?”   
  
“She’s at the Strawberry Battlefield, I believe.”    
  
“... Okay. I’ll go.”   
  
“Oh! Really? I-- wonderful! That’s wonderful.” Pearl wiped her brow of sweat and headed to warp. “Come on!”   
  
Twoie walked onto it, hands shoved in his pockets. They warped off. Landing later in the battlefield, Twoie glanced around at the axes and spears, remembering how they looked in action. The screams of pain after Pink’s ‘shattering’. He shuddered. He was glad Steven would never have to go through that. 

In the distance, they could hear Garnet and Bismuth talking. Bismuth was sat on the arm of an iron maiden, kicking around the spiked balls lazily. Garnet sat on the head, speaking to her.

“I know I screwed up.” Bismuth sighed. “I wish I hadn’t of been so.. Impulsive, y’know? I mean, ugh, how’s the kid gonna forgive me now? I wouldn’t be surprised if I was never allowed back.”   
  
“I see a few futures where he forgives you, if that helps.” Garnet said. 

“But you also probably see a lot where he doesn’t.”   
  
“Mhmm.”   
  
Bismuth sighed, leaning back on the arm. “Well, what’s most likely?”   
  
“What’s most likely is that Twoie and Pearl are watching us right now and waiting to speak.”   
  
“Huh?” Bismuth looked at them. Pearl blushed and waved. “Hey, Bismuth.”   
  
Twoie waved, too.

Bismuth chuckled. “Heh. Right on the money, Love Machine.”

Garnet smirked.

Bismuth hopped down from the iron maiden and walked up to Twoie. Twoie tensed, cheeks going pink. Bismuth stopped in her tracks and put up her hands.   
  
“Whoa, hey. I’m not gonna hurt you.”   
  
Twoie nodded. “I-I know.”   
  
Bismuth frowned. “...” She waved him off. “Whatever. Listen, I uh, I wanna apologize for my actions earlier. I was out of line.” She sighed. “I understand now. About Rose and Pink Diamond… about shattering gems… I was wrong to jump to conclusions and all I want is to be around my old team again, y’know? I just got so  _ scared…  _ about going back into the bubble-- about  _ losing  _ them again and being trapped… I guess I decided to attack  _ you  _ before  _ you  _ could attack  _ me _ . I’m sorry.”

Twoie blinked.   
  
“...”   
  
He chuckled. “Heh.. wow.. That’s a very nice apology.”   
  
Bismuth smiled tensely.   
  
Twoie bit his lip. “I uh.. Well.” He shrugged. “Can’t say I forgive you. Or.. trust you. But I trust you  _ more _ and.. I think we can be on good terms.” He held out his hand. Bismuth smiled and shook it.

“Hey, that’s more than I expected!”   
  
Twoie chuckled. “Yeah.”   
  
“So… Can I come back? To the temple?”   
  
Twoie hummed, tensing. “I.. don’t know. I mean.. The gems want you around and all that and you’re cool, but, it’s kinda getting crowded…”   
  
“Oh..” Bismuth frowned. “I get it… um… hm… I don’t know if there’s any other place for me to stay though, is there?”   
  
Twoie thought. “I might know a place!”

**\-----------**

“Sorry, no.” Lapis said, crossing her arms. 

“What??” Twoie groaned. “C’mon! She’s great!”  
  
“Listen, _Twoie,_ _‘Steven-from-the-future’,-- whatever_. I do not want _one_ more person in the barn. Peridot’s _enough_.”  
  
“Yeah!” Peridot crossed her arms, too. “And she’d probably wreck our meepmorps!”  
  
“Meepmorps?” Bismuth tilted her head. “What’re those?”  
  
“Ugh. No culture.” Lapis huffed.  
  
Peridot rolled her eyes and gestured behind her into the barn, where there were some meepmorps stacked up. “It’s music, but with things.”  
  
Bismuth stepped into the periphery of the barn and peeked around a little. “Whoa… that’s really cool…”  
  
Peridot blushed. “You.. think so?”  
  
“Yeah! ‘Course I do!” Bismuth grinned. “Music but _things_ …” She walked up to one of the meepmorps with a bunch of toilets. “Y’know, as a Bismuth, we’re programmed just to build big, stupid, fancy, spires but this is really out there.. I like it! It’s _pushing the boundary_ of what’s supposed to be made!”  
  
Peridot’s eyes shined. “Wow, thanks.”  
  
Lapis rolled her eyes. “Oh, c’mon. They’re not that deep.”  
  
Bismuth shrugged. “I dunno, maybe you’re not looking deep enough.”  
  
Lapis groaned. “Well, _my_ meepmorps aren’t complex or whatever-- like, this one.” She pointed to a baseball glove, a baseball mitt, and a baseball. “This is just about the time I played baseball with Steven.”  
  
She glanced back at Twoie.  
  
“The _real_ Steven.”  
  
Bismuth nodded. “Hm. Well, it’s nicely made. I like it.”  
  
Lapis crossed her arms. “Even if it doesn’t have some super deep meaning or whatever?”  
  
“Yeah. Building stuff just for the hell of it’s nice, too! You mind if.. I try?”  
  
Lapis looked her up and down, then hummed. “Um.. sure. Just.. put your meepmorp outside… I don’t want you ruining any other meepmorps.”

“Well, they seem to be getting along alright.” Pearl said. Twoie nodded, putting his hands on his hips. “Yep! Problem solved! They’re gonna be BFF’s in no time.”   


He went back to the warp. Pearl frowned and got on, warping them off to the house. Amethyst was waiting by the temple door and looked up at them when they came in.   
  
“Hey, Twoie.” She said. Pearl and Twoie both glanced at her. “Can you… come to my room for a sec?”   
  
“Uh, sure.” Twoie said. “Bye, Pearl.”   
  
“Goodbye, Steve-- uh.. Twoie.”    


Pearl sighed and walked off.

Twoie looked back at her, confused. Amethyst grabbed his hand. “C’mon, let’s go already.”   
  
“Uh, okay?” Twoie said, following her into her room. 

The temple door shut behind them as they entered the purple, sprawling, room. Amethyst kept her hand on Twoie’s wrist, dragging him along down winding corridors lined with junk and crystals. Twoie looked around. It had been a while since he was in here… he liked her room the best, honestly. 

Eventually, they arrived at a clearing with a few water pools, a waterfall/slide, and tons of junk. Amethyst flopped down on a junk pile.    
  
Twoie tilted his head. “Uh, so.. What did you want me in here for?”   
  
“Oh. Just to.. Hang. Y’know.” Amethyst said. 

“Really?  _ Just _ to hang?”   
  
“Ugh, yes!” Amethyst huffed. “What? Is it so wrong to hang out with the second coolest person I know?”   
  
Twoie blushed. “Second coolest? Really? Wait-- who’s first?”   
  
“Garnet.”   
  
Twoie chuckled. “Oh, duh.”    
  
He climbed up on her junk pile and sat down. “Well, you’re the… third or fourth in my book.”   
  
“Wow.” Amethyst deadpanned.   
  
“Hey, I know a lot of gems and people.” He said. “You’re up there.”   
  
“Well, who’s before me?”   
  
“Garnet, Connie, and my dad.”   
  
“GREG’S cooler than me!?” She squawked playfully. “Oh, dude.” She flopped back an arm over her forehead. “You’re killing me.”

Twoie laughed. Amethyst peeked up and laughed, too.   
  
“Soo.... uh…” Amethyst bit her lip. “How’s your back?”   
  
“Oh.” Twoie winced. “It’s… okay. Still sore. Please don’t mention it.”   
  
“Ah, got’cha.”

Twoie nodded and looked away, holding his stomach. Suddenly, he was smacked in the face with a pillow.    
  
“Ow!” Twoie said.

“Quit being sad!” Amethyst gibed. 

Twoie frowned. “Not that easy.”   
  
Amethyst threw another piece of junk at him. “Quit being sad.”   
  
Twoie caught it. “Amethyst, quit it.”   
  
“Make me.” She smirked.   
  
Twoie narrowed his eyes, then glanced at the toy in his hand. “... oh.”

He smirked and pelted it back at her. Amethyst grinned and hoisted up a couch cushion.   
  
“Better start running, Universe!”   
  
“Oh, shoot!” Twoie laughed, leaping off the junk pile.”   
  
“ _ HEY!! _ ” Amethyst yelled. “IT’S OKAY TO SWEAR IN HERE! THIS IS A SAFE SPACE FOR BEING  _ RUDE _ !!”   
  
She flung the cushion at him. Twoie dodged it and picked up a soccer ball. “Yeah!? Good to know!” He tossed it at her. She kicked it back and it hit his face.    
  
“OW!” Twoie fell to the ground.   
  
“Oh, shit.” Amethyst winced, leaping down and crouching next to him. “You okay, dude?”   
  
Twoie slowly got up on his hands and knees. 

“...”

He launched up and shoved her.   
  
“Got’cha!”   
  
Amethyst stumbled back, stunned for a moment, and then chuckled. “Oh, I’m gonna  _ get _ you for that!” She pulled her hands back, ready to pounce. Twoie laughed and took off running, Amethyst trailing close behind on all fours. Twoie ran through the nearby pathway, kicking off his sandals and gaining speed. Amethyst shapeshifted her neck longer and nipped at his jacket. 

“C’mere, Two~ie! You can’t outrun me!”   


“We’ll see about that!” Twoie yelled back, leaping over a junk pile in front of him. Amethyst ran face first into it, making Twoie stumble from on top. He dove off into a lake and popped out of another lake across the room. Amethyst followed, diving in and launching out, landing in the spot he was just in. She looked around and didn’t see him. She got up on her legs and smirked.

“Hiding now, are we?”   
  
Twoie, from behind a pile of junk, snickered to himself. He covered his mouth with his hand. Amethyst perked up and started stalking towards the junk pile. 

“You know I’m gonna get you, Twoie! I’m a gem  _ warrior! _ ”

She whirled around the junk pile, diving for him. He yelped and was talked to the floor. They laughed.

“Damn, you got me.” Twoie snorted, laying down. “Guess I can’t beat you after all.”   
  
“Nah, you did pretty good. If it were Steven, I’d have him pinned, like, five minutes ago.” She rolled off of him and laid down next to him. Twoie chuckled. “Yeah, you would have.”

“It’s crazy how much you’ve changed.” Amethyst said. “Like, you’re only four years older than Steven. That’s  _ nothing _ .”   
  
“Maybe to gems, but to humans, it’s a while.”   
  
“Guess so.. You guys only live ‘til a hundred. Crazy.”   
  
“Mhmm.” He nodded. 

He sighed. “... I’m gonna miss this.”

“What’d’ya mean?”   
  
“I mean, like… being here. Being  _ alive _ . When I go back, I’ll basically be dead.”   
  
“Hey, no, no.” Amethyst sat up. “You won’t  _ die _ . You’ll just be a little different.”   
  
“Yeah, well, what if I’m a  _ lot _ different? What if it hurts?” He held himself. “I’m scared of that unknown.”   
  
Amethyst papped his face. “Hey, no sadness.”   
  
Twoie sighed. “Sorry, Amethyst. I just.. I can’t not be sad about it.”   
  
Amethyst frowned and laid down on her side. “Yeah? Well.. what’re you sad about? Like.. specifically? Maybe I can help?”   
  
“You don’t have to do that.”   
  
“I know. But I kinda feel like shit after yesterday and… I wanted to get you in here to make you feel better anyways.”   
  
Twoie stared at her in surprise. “... Oh. Uh, thank you. It worked.”   
  
“Yeah… for a little bit.” Amethyst sighed.   
  
“No, no, I.. talking might help me, you’re right.”   
  
“Okay… then talk.”   
  
Twoie nodded. “Well.. I guess I’m just not ready to go yet, y’know? I’ve worked so  _ hard _ to be where I am today and… just when my life was beginning, it’s just now ending. And… and I’m gonna miss Steven a lot, too.” He sighed. “I’m gonna miss him _ so _ much. And… and I know that young me would miss me, too, y’know?”    
  
He sniffled.   
  
“But I can’t do anything. I’m powerless, just like always. I’m practically doomed.”

“... Jesus. That’s rough.”    
  
Twoie chuckled weakly. “Yeah…”   
  
Amethyst leaned over and hugged him. Twoie hugged her back, sniffling.   
  
“Well…” Amethyst sat them up against the junk pile, more comfortable. “Maybe… maybe when you go back, it’ll be like nothing changed. Maybe things will turn out the same.”   
  
“I hope not.” Twoie mumbled. “My life’s been shit.”   


“... Then isn’t it a good thing you’re going to change?”   
  
“Well…” Twoie sighed, burying his face in her shoulder. “I guess I just wish none of this ever happened so I never had to lose it. I don’t want Steven to go through what I went through, but I also don’t want to change. But I know that… I’ve already changed so much. Steven’s prob--” He choked. “Probably going to grow up much happier than I was. Better than me. And that’s good, but I’m so scared… I’m so scared…”   
  
Amethyst held him tighter. “What’s so wrong with being you? You’re great.”

Twoie shook his head. “No, I’m terr-- I was terrible. I was so, so, terrible.”

“Tell me about it.”

Twoie sobbed. “I can’t. I can’t--”   
  
He turned pink.   
  
“I can’t. I can’t tell you about the things I’ve done. The things I’ve  _ been through _ …”   
  
Amethyst gulped. “W-well, maybe just… half-tell me? Keep it vague? Maybe that- that’ll help you, without me knowing.”   
  
“... Okay.” Twoie sighed. 

“I’ve been through a lot. The cluster, Jas-- Jasper when she came to Earth, Homeworld, everything… it screwed me up. So much. My body was out of control, it was like I was  _ possessed _ . But I wasn’t. It was just me. I hit rock bottom, then I kept digging.”   
  
He gripped her shirt and screwed his eyes shut.

“I pushed away everyone, and I felt so alone… Everything was crumbling around me and I couldn’t stop it… there was a point where I just.. Didn’t want to  _ exist  _ anymore--”   
  
“You mean… kill yourself..?” Amethyst whispered.   
  
“No, no. I can’t do that. I was too scared to do it.”    
  
Twoie chuckled sadly.   
  
“Guess it doesn’t matter now, huh? Since when I go back, I’ll be dead anyways. Heh.”

He frowned.

“... Anyways, I um... I just wanted to get lost in a permafusion with Connie. Let her take control. I didn’t wanna exist, but I didn’t want to die either. And.. and it only got  _ worse  _ because I became my _worst_ n-nightmare. I h-hurt people instead of helping them--”   
  
He gagged. Amethyst pulled back and held his face.

“Yo, yo, you can stop. Don’t puke.”   
  
“I’m gonna p-p--” He shuddered and wheezed. “Puke--”   
  
“DON’T! Just breathe, dude, breathe.” She hugged him and rocked him back and forth. “Chill, chill… chill…”   
  
Twoie breathed in and out slowly, then the bile went down.

“Thanks…”   
  
“Of course… um… that sounds terrible, man…” Amethyst wiped her eyes. “Um. I’m glad you’re better now.”

“Doesn’t matter now. I’m gonna die.”

Amethyst took a deep breath in and pulled back, thinking. Her eyes darted like she would find the answer right in front of her. She bit her lip and sighed.

“...But it  _ does  _ matter. Because-- because now that you’re here, you can help Steven live a good life… you’ve already done  _ so  _ much, you’re basically helping yourself all over again, right?”

Twoie looked up at her.

“S-so, you won’t really die.” Amethyst said. “You’re just gonna grow up different! And be better! And you won’t go through all of that! So-- so it wasn’t in vain. Your life wasn’t in vain-- and you’re not gonna die anyways! Because.. Because you’ll still be you.” She sniffled and put a hand on his chest, over his heart. “You’re still Steven, no matter what. No matter if you grow up a little different, you’re still my bro and you’re still the amazing, kind,  _ helpful,  _ Steven.”   
  
Twoie’s eyes shined with tears, he started to sob.

Amethyst smiled weakly.

“A Steven who  _ loves _ his big bro Twoie. One who will never forget him and o-one who was helped so much by him because he did  _ so much good _ in his life.”

Twoie bawled and collapsed into her.

Amethyst held him close and ran her hands through his curls.   
  
“It’s okay, Steven. It’s okay.”

She held him impossibly closer, so close that light encompassed their bodies. Smoky Quartz sat against the junk pile, sobbing and holding themself.

They gasped half-heartedly.

“Whoa…” They sniffled. “I’m… me. Again?”   
  
They looked down at their arms and chuckled weakly, wiping a tear from their cheek. “This is kinda familiar, but… so new.”   
  
“...”   
  
Smoky sighed and leaned back. “Man, I feel awful.”   
  
Smoky shut their eyes. “Sorry.” They mumbled, more in Steven’s voice than their own. They unfused, leaving Amethyst and a sleepy Twoie.

Amethyst looked down at Twoie, who was curled up against her.    
  
“...You good, man?”   
  
“Tired…” Twoie mumbled, cuddling up to her.   
  
Amethyst smiled sadly and scooted him closer, putting an arm around him. “Alright. Goodnight, buddy.”

“Okay…” He sniffled. “Thank you…” He shut his eyes and drifted off. 

In the distance, Amethyst heard the door open.   
  
“Amethyst?!” Pearl called. Amethyst groaned and covered Twoie’s ears.   
  
“Amethyst, are you in here!?”   
  
Amethyst rolled her eyes and got up, grabbing a pillow and shoving it under Twoie’s head, walking to the pool and diving in, now closer to Pearl.   
  
“Hey, be quiet, Twoie’s sleepin’.” Amethyst said, voice raspy.

“Oh!” Pearl straightened up. “I see…”   
  
“What do you want?” Amethyst rubbed her eyes.   
  
“Well, I--... Wait, Amethyst, have you been crying?”   
  
“None of your business.” 

“Amethyst, please.” Pearl pleaded.   
  
Amethyst sighed. “Fine. Yeah, I was. Twoie was talking to me about some really heavy shit and… it made us cry. Now he’s sleepin’ it off.”   
  
“Oh…”

“So, what’s up?”   


“Well… I was coming in to ask Twoie to come help us move Greg in and see if it’d be okay for Greg to sleep in Rose’s room. I think it’s a bad idea but Steven and Greg seem fine with it… and Garnet…” She trailed off. “Actually, It doesn’t matter. Obviously Twoie can’t come out now.”   
  
Amethyst nodded.   
  
“... Do.. do you mind telling me what happened exactly? I’ve been concerned about him, too, ever since Bismuth.. Y’know.”   
  
“Stabbed him?”   
  
Pearl winced. “Yes…”   
  
“Mm…” Amethyst thought. “Maybe. But only if you bring me a good stuffed animal for him. All of mine are trashy and full of bugs.”   
  
Pearl grimaced. “Sure.”   
  
She left and came back a few moments later with Sir Bearington, a brown bear with a red bow tie, a black suit, and a brown monocle on it’s right eye.   
  
“Here.” Pearl handed it to Amethyst. Amethyst looked it over and nodded. “Ye-ap. This is quality. Aight, c’mon.”   
  
She leapt into the pool, Pearl behind, and they both came out near where Twoie was. Amethyst walked over. Twoie was holding the pillow to his chest, face scrunched up. Amethyst sighed and kicked the pillow out of his arms, slipping Sir Bearington in. Pearl put the pillow back under his head and sat down beside him, putting her fingers in his hair comfortingly. Twoie relaxed.

“So...” Amethyst sat down. “He, um… told me how he doesn’t wanna go home because he’s gonna be a different person and he’s gonna miss Steven… But then he said that he kinda wanted to be a different person because his life was shit--”   
  
“His life isn’t bad, Amethyst, that’s rude.” 

“Hey! I’m not calling his life shit,  _ he _ said his life was shit.”   
  
Pearl paled and looked down at him. “Why on Earth would he say that?”   
  
Amethyst frowned. “...Well, y’know,  _ maybe  _ it has something to do with being stabbed by Bismuth, us not letting his dad in the house until now, the Cluster, just in general  _ most of his life _ ?! I mean--” She panted. “--Holy  _ shit _ , if Twoie wasn’t here, do you think that Steven would have ever talked to us? That shit was  _ eating him up  _ inside. And it’s  _ our _ fault.”   
  
Pearl’s jaw set and she gripped Twoie’s hair accidentally. Twoie whined. She gasped and relaxed her hand, patting him in apology. “W-well, it’s not  _ all _ our fault.”   
  
“Dunno, seems like it is.” Amethyst crossed her arms and leaned back. “I feel awful.”   
  
“Me, too. But.. all we can do is try our best from now on and hope that things turn out okay.”   
  
“... Yeah.” Amethyst looked at Twoie. “... But if they turn out okay, Twoie will be gone.”   
  
“... yes, but…”    
  
She looked down at Twoie, pressing her lips together tightly.   
  
“... I don’t know.” She sighed. “I just want Steven to be happy.”   


“Yeah… Me, too. But.. isn’t it sad? How we’ll never actually meet Twoie again? He’ll just go back and.. Die. Be replaced with another version of himself. And, like, maybe we’ll forget Twoie.”   
  
“... There’s nothing we can do about it.”   
  
“Yeah.” Amethyst’s lip quivered. “You’re right.” Her voice cracked. Pearl frowned and opened up her arms. 

Amethyst stared at her for a moment before accepting the embrace and hugging Pearl. Pearl held her back and fought back her own tears. 

“It’ll be okay.” Pearl reassured. “It has to be. We’ll make sure it’s all okay.”

“I hope so.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please leave a comment if you enjoyed!
> 
> also there probably won't be an update on thursday. I don't feel motivated and a lot of shit is going on. So y'all will have to wait. Also, I'm deciding on what to do for the ending.


	26. Universe & Sons

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Steven and Twoie go on a trip with their father

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WE'RE BACK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! YEEHAW! NO MORE HIATUS!!!!!

“Hello, Tubetube! Today we’re going to be making Country Browns! It’s a recipe my big bro taught me a while ago and it’s really good if you like kinda spicy food! Also, it’s really simple, so just follow along!”   
  
Steven set a potato in front of the phone camera on a cutting board, leaning up on his step stool to get above it with his knife.   
  
“So, first step is to cut the potato into cubes…”

He sliced off both sides of the potato and then turned it so he could cut another side, standing on his tip-toes.

He bit his lip and slowly sliced down, wobbling a bit.   
  
“S-so, you gotta make sure you make the potato a cube for later.. So it’s easier to cu-- AHH!”   
  
The potato rolled out of his grasp and the knife cut into his fingertip. He fell off the step stool and dropped the knife, cradling and sucking on his finger.   
  
“Ow…”   
  
“Steven!” Twoie rushed over from his place on the couch. “Are you okay?? Sorry, I know you said not to interfere, but--”   
  
“Yeah, I’m okay..” Steven pulled his finger out of his mouth, now completely healed. “I hate that I’m so short…”   
  
Twoie snoofed. “Y’know, I could help you, if you wanted.”   
  
“No, no, I can do this! I’ll just shapeshift bigger!” 

Steven stood up and shut his eyes, concentrating. His legs lit up and he grew just a bit taller than Twoie, but only with his legs.   


“Aw, c’mon!” Steven groaned. “Why just the legs?? I wanted the whole body!”   
  
Twoie chuckled. “What’s wrong with just legs, buddy?”   
  
“‘Cause if my viewers see me with just my legs, then they’ll focus on THAT instead of the actual recipe! Last time I posted a video, there was some crazy gem stuff in the background and nobody even paid attention to what I was saying...” He crossed his arms and huffed. “Same with the Lion series... Everyone was just freaked out that I had a pet Lion.”

“Aw, it’s okay.” Twoie put a hand on his shoulder. “People are just weird like that. Why don’t I help you cut up the potato and you do the rest, okay? It’s okay to ask for help.”   
  
Steven sighed, shapeshifting back. “You’re right. Um, thanks, Twoie.”   
  
“‘Course.” Twoie winked and grabbed the knife off the floor, putting it in the sink and grabbing another one, starting to chop up the potato.

“Why don’t you get the spices and cheese out?”   
  
“Yes, chef!” Steven chirped and mock-saluted. Twoie chuckled and turned back to chopping. Steven went to the fridge and got out some shredded cheese, then went to the cabinet and got out some good spices: Cayenne, Paprika, Chili Powder, Salt, Pepper, and Garlic powder. By the time he was done, Twoie had turned on the stove and put a pan on with some olive oil in.

“Wait, Twoie! We gotta record that stuff!” Steven said. Twoie blinked.

“Oh! You’re right!”   
  
He picked up the phone and hit record again, hovering over the pan.   
  
“Put on the stove at, like, six and uh.. Get these spices and some cheese.” He said, panning to the individual subjects. Steven pouted and grabbed the phone.   
  
“Sorry, guys, my bro obviously doesn’t know how to be a tubetuber--”   
  
“Rude!”

“So I’ll walk you through this step by step while he finishes cutting the potato! I would do it myself but… I cut my finger.” He smiled shyly. “Always be safe in the kitchen!”

As Twoie finished cubing the potato and putting it into the pan, Steven talked about the different spices, why they were using those ones, and the cheese and how it cools down the spices so it’s not too hot.

Steven put the phone above the pan as Twoie moved it around.   
  
“So, Chef Twoie, walk us through some of the cooking process!”   
  
Twoie looked up at the camera and smiled lopsidedly. “But I thought you wanted to do it?”   
  
“I did, but  _ apparently  _ you’re the master now.”    
  
Twoie gaped and laughed. “Oh my  _ god _ , okay, okay, you can cook. Just get your stool.”

“I’m editing that out.” Steven said with a smile.    
  
Twoie snorted as Steven hopped down from the counter and pulled over a chair, taller than the stool. He grabbed the pan handle and moved it around. Twoie held the phone and crouched down.    
  
“Here, now you don’t look tiny.”   
  
Steven huffed and pouted. Twoie laughed. Steven smiled and rolled his eyes. “Okay, okay… so… now that it’s kinda cooking, we add the spices!! Remember to do little bits at a time, okay? Otherwise it’ll be too much and it’ll hurt your tongue. Also, don’t touch your face after touching the spices.”

He shook some salt and pepper in there, then started to add little pinches of each spice as he shook around the potato cubes, spreading the spice evenly. Occasionally, Twoie or himself would take a potato cube out and taste test it. After a few minutes, the flavour was perfect.   
  
Steven turned off the stove and moved the pan off of the burner.   
  
“Okay, so, now you grab a bowl--”   
  
Twoie slid one to him.   
  
“Thank you, Twoie.”   
  
“No problem, Chef.”

Steven smiled at him then picked up the pan and tilted it so a good portion of the potatoes went into the bowl, then sprinkled a layer of cheese on it, then put more potatoes and then a bit more cheese, melting it evenly across.

“And now, it’s ready to eat!”’ Steven grinned, holding up the bowl for the camera. “Just make sure you have some water with you! Until next time, this is Steven Universe, signing off!”   
  
Twoie shut off the recording and handed the phone back to Steven. Steven pocketed it and set down the potatoes on the counter.    
  
“Hm… maybe I should’ve made more. For all of us.”   
  
“It’s fine.” Twoie said. “I’ll just steal half of it.”   
  
“Don’t you dare!!” Steven giggled, moving towards the bathroom. “I’m gonna wash my hands and that better not be touched!”   
  
“No promises!~”   
  
“Rude!!”   
  
Steven went into the bathroom and washed his hands. When he came out, Twoie had a spoonful of country browns in his mouth.   
  
“TWOIE!!”   
  
Twoie laughed through a mouthful of food and then swallowed. “Sorry! Sorry!!” He giggled. “It was my first bite!”   
  
“Likely story.” Steven hopped up on a chair and pulled the food towards him, sticking his tongue out at Twoie. Twoie stuck his out back.    
  
The door opened behind them, Greg walking through and stretching.    
  
“Hey, dad!!” Steven and Twoie said, waving. Greg looked at them and waved.   
  
“Hey, kiddos~” He yawned. “Mm.. your old man needs some breakfast…”   
  
“Dad, it’s 11.” Steven said. 

“Oh, really?” Greg’s eyes widened. “Uh.. brunch, then? Just move over so I can make something, Steven.”   
  
Steven went to the other side of the counter as Greg entered the kitchen. Twoie grabbed his spoon and stole another bite of the country browns.   
  
“Twoie!! Stop it!!” Steven pulled the bowl closer to himself. “That’s my food!”   
  
“I helped make it! And I’m so hungryyyyy~” Twoie whined, reaching over with his spoon again playfully. Steven kicked him weakly and squealed. “Twoie!!”   
  
“What’re you two fighting over??” Greg asked.   
  
“Twoie keeps stealing my food!”   
  
“But I’m hungry and I helped make it! Plus there’s so much!!”   
  
“Twoie, don't steal Steven’s food.” 

Twoie huffed. Steven smirked and stuck out his tongue. Twoie bopped his head. 

Greg chuckled. “Why don’t I make us some waffles, Twoie?”   
  
Twoie grinned. “Yeah!!”

“Alright, then, some waffles coming right up!”   
  
Soon, they were all eating at the kitchen table together. Greg poured some syrup on his waffle and took a bite, glancing off at the warp pad.

“Hey… so…” He swallowed his food. “Now that I’m here… I was thinking maybe you guys could fill me in on some gem stuff? So if something happens, I’m not freaking out over it. We can all be on the same page, y’know?”

He glanced to Steven nervously.

Twoie looked to Steven, too.

Steven tilted his head, confused as to why they were looking at him.    
  
“Um, that sounds like a great idea!” He said. “We can show you some cool gem stuff!”

“Does cool mean dangerous?” Greg asked nervously.   
  
“No, no.” Steven said. “Though, um.. You are human.. So I guess.. Maybe?”   
  
Steven sighed.

“Mm.. maybe I  _ can't _ show you--”   
  
“No! No.” Greg butted in. “Forget I said anything. I’m sure whatever it is, we can handle it. I got both of my strong boys here with me to help me along the way!” He smiled.

Twoie relaxed and gave him a warm look. 

Steven’s eyes lit up. “Yeah!! Oh, man, I can’t wait to show you the-- WAIT!!” He gasped, then coughed, almost choking. “I-- oh-- you haven’t seen mom’s fountain!!!”   
  
Twoie made an ‘o’ with his mouth. “You’re right! He hasn’t!”   
  
Greg hummed. “Huh.. yeah.. Your mother didn’t really take me to many gem places… it’ll be nice to see ‘em.”

“Then let’s go!!!”   
  
Steven rushed to put his bowl by the sink and downed some water. Twoie chuckled and finished his waffles, sparkles in his eyes as he watched Steven. Greg shared the same glance.

**\----------** **  
**

When they landed, Greg landed right after them, landing right on his face.    
  
“Dad!?” Steven gasped. “Are you okay?””   
  
Greg gave a thumbs up and slowly got up. “Yeeeepppp.. Just… need to get used to that…” he groaned, standing up and cracking his back. “Eugh.”   
  
Twoie pat his shoulder. “Next time, we’ll hold onto you. You don’t wanna be outside the stream.”   
  
Steven shuddered. “Yeah…”   
  
Greg nodded. “Got it. So… where’s the fountain? All I see right now are a wall of… rose bushes.”

Twoie smiled weakly and took his father’s hand. “It’s  _ behind _ the rose bushes, dad.” He said, leading Greg to the entrance. Steven skipped along beside them.

When they crossed the threshold, Greg’s eyes widened and sparkled as he took in his surroundings. A giant statue of rose stood upon the fountain’s pedestal, surrounding it was the fountain, full with Rose’s tears and miniature rose statues.

“Rose…” Greg breathed, wiping his eyes as he walked up to the fountain, staring up at Rose. “... why is she crying?”   
  
“That’s how she healed people.” Twoie explained. “When her comrades were hurt, she felt real sorrow for them, and cried over them to heal them. This fountain is full of her tears, I think.”   
  
“Whoa....” Greg looked down at the fountain. “All of it?”   
  
Twoie shrugged. “I’m sure she just, like, cried once into some water and it turned the whole water like that.”   
  
“Ah…” Greg nodded, dipping his hand in and smiling. “She looks so beautiful like that… just… augh--” He wiped his eyes. “Sorry…”   
  
“It’s okay.” Steven said. “I think this place is pretty, too.”   
  
Steven strode up and sat in a Rose statue’s lap. Greg looked over and chuckled. “I wish she could’ve held you.”   
  
Steven sighed. “... me, too. What kind of mom do you think she would’ve been?”   
  
“The best one. She loved you so much.” Greg kissed Steven’s forehead. Steven chuckled weakly. “Yeah… I’d hope so.”   
  
Twoie was hanging back by the star doorway before the bushes, looking off to the side. Greg looked over and caught his eye. Twoie gave him a small smile and waved.   


“You guys good to go or are we staying a bit longer?”   
  
Steven flopped over on his mother’s statue’s lap. “Dad can decide!”   
  
Dad hummed and looked around. “I think I’m good for now… might visit later on my own, though. You’ll have to teach me how to warp.”   
  
“I dunno if humans can use the warps…” Twoie hummed. “But, I mean, hey, might as well try! C’mon! You can warp us to our next location.”   
  
“Oh, really??” Greg walked over. “Okay!"

They all got on the warp pad and Twoie thought.   
  
“What’s a good place to take you…?”   
  
“How about the Strawberry fields??” Steven piped up. “We can pick berries!”

Twoie grinned and patted Steven’s head. “Yes! Yes! That’s a wonderful idea!”

“I don’t know where that is.” Greg said sheepishly. Twoie chuckled.    
  
“It’s alright. Just imagine a field full of big strawberries and you’ll get there.”   
  
“Hm.. okay..” Greg shut his eyes, sighing out and focusing.

The warp pad activated and they were warped into the Strawberry Battlefield. 

Greg gasped.    
  
“I-- I did it!! Oh my gosh!!” He looked at Twoie with stars in his eyes. “I did it!!!”   
  
Twoie laughed and hugged him. “You did it!!”   
  
Steven leapt up and hugged his dad from on his back. “You did it!!”   
  
Greg laughed and held onto Steven, giving him a piggy back ride. “Yeah! Wow, who knew your old man had it in him?”   
  
“I did!!~” Steven said. “I always believed in you, dad!”   
  
Greg smiled warmly as Twoie stepped off the pad. 

“Well, here we are.” Twoie said. “It’s really nice, except for if you fall, you’re really sticky.”   
  
Greg stepped off and looked around. “Wow.. these are  _ massive _ ... wait-- what’s with the weapons?”   
  
Twoie frowned. “The war happened here.”   
  
“Oh…” Greg bit his lip. “Huh. You… wouldn’t be able to tell.”

“That’s Earth!” Steven said. “Always bouncing back.”

“Yeah.” Greg smiled up at Steven. Steven smiled back and kissed his cheek.

Twoie picked up a strawberry and bit into it, some juice getting on his shirt.   
  
“Aw.” He frowned, taking off his jacket and tying it around his waist. “Mmf-- these are good, though, you guys should try some.”   
  
Greg picked up one and handed it to Steven.   
  
“Don’t get any in my hair.”   
  
Steven nodded and leaned over his dad’s head. Greg gasped and laughed. “Steven!!”   
  
Steven chuckled. “I wouldn’t!~”   
  
He hopped off and landed in the soft grass, handing another strawberry to his dad. Greg took it and they both bit into their fruit.    
  
“Mm! You’re right!” Greg said. “These are-- mm--  _ really  _ good! Gonna have to come out here sometime with a basket… free food's  _ always _ good."   
  
Steven nodded in agreement and leaned back, looking up at the clouds.   
  
“Hey, Twoie?”   
  
“Yeah?”    
  
“Do you remember our first mission here?”   
  
“Oh, yeah! I do!” Twoie sat down next to him. “Man, I had no idea what was going on back then.”   
  
“What do you mean?”   
  
“Like, with gem stuff.” Twoie said. “Y’know the mural on the wall? That was of the war. Of our mom.”   
  
Steven gasped. “No way!!!”   
  
“Yeah!”   
  
Greg sat with them.   
  
“What’s this about your mother and a mural?”   
  
“Oh,” Twoie looked at him. “Well, uh, there was a temple here a while ago, powered by a gem mechanism and uh.. Inside there was a mural of our mom at war with… a gem? Maybe a Diamond… and we were just remembering that.”   
  
Greg nodded slowly. “... I got a lot to learn about gem stuff, huh?”   
  
Twoie’s eyes sparkled. “You wanna learn?”   
  
Greg smiled. “Of course I do! You guys are gems, I should.. I should be more involved.”

Steven gasped, stars in his eyes. “You’re right!!”   
  
Twoie frowned. “We’re.. We’re not gems, dad.”   
  
“Wh-- yes you are.” 

Greg pointed to their gems. 

Twoie shook his head. “We’re hybrids. Gem  _ and  _ human. Not just gems.”

“Ah, sorry…” Greg scratched the back of his neck. “I didn’t realize it was such a sore subject.”   
  
“It’s alright. Uh, what did you wanna know about?”   
  
“Well… everything.” Greg said. “I’ve pretty much avoided everything  _ gem _ since Steven was born. The gems told me that I would mess everything up, or it could interfere with what’s left with my hair.”

Greg laughed. Steven chuckled. Twoie made a ‘ _ well, shit _ ’ face.

“I know more than you, but Twoie knows the most, right?” Steven asked.

Twoie nodded. “Guess so. Um… where should we start?”   
  
Greg laid back with Steven and gazed up at the clouds. “How about… how the gems can do the whole… shapeshifting thing? And the weapons and… what’s their deal, anyways?”   
  
Twoie chuckled and laid down with him. “Alright, so…”

\----   


Twoie and Steven helped Greg understand a lot about gems: how they were made, how they worked, their powers, the Diamond Authority, and other such topics. Twoie, when explaining, left out anything that would be too upsetting or kept it vague when he knew he didn’t want Steven to know about certain things yet. Greg listened with an open mind and asked questions when he thought of them. Most of the gem stuff was lost on him, but eventually he had an okay understanding of gems and gained new insight on previous events. 

The sun moved across the sky slowly, showing that about an hour had passed.

“Wow…” Greg sighed. “That was.. A  _ lot _ .”   
  
“Hope I explained it well enough…” Twoie said. 

“Yeah, yeah, you did.   


Greg put a hand on his arm.   
  
“I’m glad I.. know now. So I don’t keep avoiding all this stuff.”   
  
Twoie’s eyes shined and he hugged him. “Mm!! I’m glad you do, too!!”   
  
Steven joined in, giving his dad a kiss on the cheek. Greg chuckled and ruffled his hair.    
  
Twoie sighed. “You have no idea how much it means to me that you wanna learn.”   
  
Greg hugged him tighter. “Sorry I was so scared before, kiddo.”   
  
“It’s okay.” Twoie chuckled weakly. “It is kinda scary… and weird…”   
  
“But  _ you’re  _ not.” Greg said. 

Twoie beamed ear to ear and got impossibly closer in the hug. A bright light emerged from Greg and Twoie: Steg (chubby but still muscular) arising from it in a crop top made out of Twoie’s shirt and Greg’s tank top. His jean shorts were ripped and his sandals burst open.   
  
“Wha--” Steg looked down at himself, feeling his new form with his four arms. 

Steven gasped, stars in his eyes. “TWOIE AND DAD?? T--TAD?? GROIE??  **_TWEG_ ** ???

Steg stared at Steven and then unfused, launching his counterparts apart.   
  
Twoie got up immediately, clutching his ripped shirt. “Dad!? Dad!? Are you okay?? I’m so sorr--”   
  
“What WAS THAT!?” Greg yelled, getting up and looking down at himself. “I-- who-- what just happened?”

Twoie bit his lip and blushed. “We.. we fused…”   
  
“We FUSED!?!?!” Greg shouted. “THAT’S what that feels like??”   
  
Twoie whined. “Are you mad?”   
  
“M-mad!?” Greg gasped. “Why would I be mad?? That was awesome! Why di-- how-- why did we split??” He grabbed Twoie’s shoulders.    
  
Twoie chuckled. “Um, because I didn’t know if you wanted to fuse?”

“Well.. I--” Greg thought. “... I definitely want to try with you. I’ve been wondering what fusion was like since I was in my twenties!”   
  
“YEAH!!” Steven whooped. “FUSE! FUSE! FUSE! FUSE!”   
  
Twoie laughed. “Okay, okay! Um.. so..” He held out his hand. “Shall we?”   
  
Greg took his hand.   
  
…   
  
“Now what?” Greg asked.

“You have to dance now!” Steven said.    
  
Greg smiled. “Perfect! Rocking out’s second nature to a Universe~”   
  
Twoie chuckled awkwardly. “Not for  _ this _ Universe…”   
  
“What’d’ya mean?” Greg asked. “We just have to dance together! We’ve been doing that since you were a baby!”   
  
Twoie frowned, looking away.   
  
Steven crossed his arms and sighed. “Twoie’s embarrassed of dancing.”   
  
“What?” Greg furrowed his brows. “Twoie, there’s no reason to be embarrassed! It’s just us here.”   
  
Twoie quirked his mouth to the side and shrugged. 

“Well, we can’t, um, dance without music.”

“I got it!” Steven ran to the warp. “You two stay there, I’m gonna get my ukelele!”   
  
“Wait!” Twoie called. Steven skidded to a stop and Twoie headed to the warp. “I got a better idea. Wait here.”   
  
Steven nodded. “Okay!”   
  
Twoie warped off and Steven turned to his father.   
  
“Hey, dad?”   
  
“Yeah, Schtu-ball?” 

“After you and Twoie fuse, can I fuse with you?”   
  
“Oh, of course, buddy!” Greg said. “I’d love to.” He sat down. “It’ll be nice to be that… connected with you.”   
  
“Yeah!” Steven beamed.    
  
“Hm..” Greg thought. “Wait, but.. If.. gems can fuse because they’re made of light, then how can  _ I _ fuse? I’m all skin and bones!”   
  
Steven hummed and looked him over. “I dunno! Maybe.. Maybe the magic in our gem is making you into light?  _ I  _ can turn into light!”

“Wait, whoa, whoa.” Greg’s eyes widened. “Does that mean that I’m not.. Not real anymore? That I’m light?”   
  
“No…?” Steven tilted to his head. “I don’t think so. It’s only temporary.”   
  
Greg put his head in his hands. “Oh, boy, gem stuff is complicated.”   
  
Steven laughed. “Tell me about it.”   
  
Twoie returned on the warp pad with an electric guitar. Steven made an ‘o’ with his mouth.   
  
“Wow.. that looks cool, Twoie…” He said. “But, I can’t play electric yet…”

“Well,  _ I _ can.” Twoie said. “This is how me and dad first fused. We played electric guitar.”   
  
“Wh-- I’ve never fused before!” Greg said.

Twoie rolled his eyes. “I’m talking about in the future, dad.”

“Oh. Wow… what was fusing like? The first time?”   


Twoie thought. 

“Well, it wasn’t the  _ best  _ circumstances, but we had fun… uh.. It was during a show and we were on stage.. We did an awesome guitar solo as flames went off and then we went back to back and fused! Steg had, like, a two necked guitar. Awesome.”

“Whoa… you’re doing shows??” Steven asked.   
  
“Ah, nah, someone else’s show. Someone I can’t tell you about.”   
  
“Aw!” Steven crossed his arms. “No fair!”   
  
Twoie chuckled and then turned to his dad.   
  
“Alright, you ready?”   
  
“You betcha. You wanna play or should I?”   
  
“Um..” Twoie looked down. “Maybe me? So… I don’t have to dance?”   
  
“You got it, Twoie.” Greg said, snapping his fingers into finger guns then stepping back. 

Steven sat down cross legged, stars in his eyes as he watched.   
  
Twoie backed up and started to strum in short bursts, then gliding his hands across the guitar and shutting his eyes, getting into the groove. Greg started to shimmy along and get closer to Twoie. Twoie smiled and stepped towards him a bit, moving his shoulders and hips. The two got back to back as Twoie jammed out on his guitar and Greg did air guitar to match. Twoie laughed at his dad’s air guitaring and a bright light engulfed them. Steg emerged, guitar in hand and looking down at Steven. 

Steven’s eyes shone as Steg held out a hand.   
  
“Hey, rockstar.” Steg greeted. “Miss me?”   
  
Steven silently nodded and took his hand. “Y-yeah. Oh, wow. You look…  _ so _ cool.”   
  
Steg chuckled and ran a hand through his pompadour. “‘Course I do. You do, too, Steven. Diggin the shirt.”

Steven blushed and looked down at his shirt. “Oh, um, thank you, S-Steg.”   
  
“Hey, what’s all the nervousness about?” Steg asked, kneeling down. “Feeling starstruck, little rockstar?”

Steven chuckled. “No, no.. It’s just that-- well-- I dunno. You’re new. And you’re… kinda my dad  _ and _ my brother? S-so I dunno how to act…”   
  
Steg cringed a bit. “Let’s… not worry about relation. And, hey, I get it.” Steg chuckled. “But it’s okay, we both love you so much, rockstar. And all we wanna do is have a good time here with you.”   
  
Steven smiled and hugged him. “Me too.”   
  
Steg picked him up and squeezed him tight. “Mm! So, little rockstar, what’d’ya wanna do? We got the whole wide world to explore.”   
  
Steven thought. “Um… maybe… can you show me some cool stuff? Like… what can you do? You’re a fusion, so you have a cool power, right?”   
  
Steg furrowed his brows, then lit up. “Yes! I do! Check it out.”    
  
He threw Steven up in the air and jumped up himself. Steven braced himself to come down, but… he didn’t.   
  
“Wha.. you can make people fly??”   
  
“Yep.” Steg winked, giving Steven a finger gun. “Garnet said it’s like I’m ‘lifting people up’. That’s my power.”   
  
“That’s so cool!!” Steven said, rocketing upwards and cheering. “I can fly!!”   
  
Steg grinned and followed him. “You wanna play tag, rockstar?”   
  
“Yes!!!” Steven whooped. He flied over and booped Steg’s nose. 

“You’re it!” 

He flew off, giggling.   
  
Steg felt his heart swell and smiled, making sure Steven got a head start before he flew after him.

They spent a while in the clouds playing tag, hide and seek, and just resting on those clouds. Eventually, though, Steven said he wanted to fuse with Greg, and Steg agreed, bringing them both down and unfusing. When they unfused, Greg and Twoie were hugging. Greg pulled back and stared at Twoie, then beamed and hugged him again in a bear hug. Twoie laughed and hugged him back as they spun around, almost fusing again.   
  
“Wow!” Greg said. “That was AMAZING! I didn’t know you-- you just disappear like that!”   
  
“I know, right!?” Twoie said. “Man, I haven’t been Steg in  _ forever _ . This was great!”   
  
Steven hopped up into his father’s arms.   
  
“Me next! me next!”

“Okay, okay!” Greg said. “I’d love to fuse with ‘ya, Scthu-ball. Twoie, you wanna play for us?”   
  
Twoie gave a thumbs up and sat down, already playing an upbeat tune. 

Greg and Steven looked at each other and broke out giggling. Greg tossed Steven up and spun him around, holding him tight, and Steven felt himself already melting into him. They gave each other one last big hug before fusing together. Steg was a bit shorter, and much less muscular. He also looked just a bit younger. 

Steg looked at himself and squealed in glee.   
  
“I’m me!!!”   
  
Twoie laughed. “You’re you!!!”   
  
Steg grinned and immediately hugged Twoie. “Mm!! It’s so good to see my superstar!”

“Superstar??” Twoie laughed. “Why am I the superstar?”   
  
“Because! You’re super, and a star.”   
  
“Then why’s Steven the ‘rockstar’?”   
  
“Uh,” Steg’s voice changed to be more Steven’s. “‘Cause he’s super cool, that’s why. Absolute rockstar.”   
  
Twoie laughed and hugged him. 

Steg grinned and threw Twoie up into the air. “Wanna fly, superstar?”   
  
“Yes!!!”   
  
Twoie floated up and ran his hands through some clouds, beaming. Steg followed him and tagged him. Twoie chuckled.   
  
“Sorry, I’m too tired for tag…”   
  
Steg nodded. “Ah, alright then. You need a break sometimes, I get it. Being as awesome as me gets exhausting, doesn’t it?”   
  
Twoie chuckled. “Sure does.”   
  
Steg floated over and laid next to him. “Wanna just nap in the clouds again?”   
  
“Hm…” Twoie thought. “Mmmaayyybbbeeee… Though, I kinda wanna explore more.”   
  
Steg nodded. “Me, too. You wanna fly down, superstar?”   
  
Twoie looked down at the ground and frowned. “I guess…”   
  
Steg frowned. “Hey, hey, what’s wrong?”   
  
“Nothin’. Um.” 

“...”   
  
“I…” Twoie sighed. “It’s weird, but I miss being Steg already. And I also miss Greg and Steven.”   
  
“You want us to unfuse?”   
  
“No, no, it’s okay. It’s fun. Being Steg. Feels good to…  _ be _ with someone.” He sighed. “I wouldn’t want to take that away from you.”   
  
“Then fuse with me.”   
  
Twoie gawked. “What!?”   
  
“Fuse with me, superstar. Let’s do an encore performance.”   
  
“But are you sure you don’t wanna just be…  _ you _ for a while?”   
  
“I’ve got time, Twoie. You don’t.” Steven’s voice came through more. Steg paled and returned to his normal voice. “I uh-- I mean… what did that mean? Uh…”   
  
Twoie held Steg’s hand. “I’d love to join you.”   
  
Steg smiled, shaking off his confusion. “Alright then. Come here, superstar.”   
  
Twoie hugged him and they fused immediately. Steg was a bit taller than usual, buff and fat again, with bigger hair that rivaled glam metal’s haircuts, and six arms instead of four.    
  
Mega Steg looked down at his arms and gawked.   
  
“Okay, this is actually kinda weird.” Greg’s voice came through.    
  
“No, no, it’s okay.” Mega Steg said, hugging himself with four of his arms. “It’ll be okay. Just focus on how nice this feels.”   
  
Steg shut his eyes and breathed out, a warm smile forming.   
  
“Heh. It  _ does  _ feel nice.”

“Yeah.”   
  
He slowly floated down to the field and landed on the warp pad.    
  
“Where to?” Steg asked himself. “Um…” He thought, mind going in two different directions. “Oh! I got it!”   
  
Mega Steg warped to many different locations over the course of the afternoon: Mask Island, where the Watermelon Stevens braided flowers into his hair, the sky spire, where he checked back up on Steven Jr and got to see the heaven beetles tiny house, and the kindergarten, where Greg learned about how gems were made. It creeped him out, but they stayed together.

They warped back a little after lunch time, feeling refreshed and glowing with happiness.   
  
Amethyst was grabbing a soda from the fridge when they warped in. Pearl was reading the newspaper on the couch and Garnet was just heading to the warp pad. Amethyst glanced momentarily at them and drank her soda.

“Hey, Ste-- WHOA!”   
  
She spat out her soda and coughed, staring at them. “WHO ARE YOU!?!?!”

Pearl stood up and stared at their gems. Garnet froze.   
  
Mega Steg laughed. “I’m Mega Steg! Twoie, Steven, and Greg all in one perfect Universe!~”

“Why??” Pearl asked. “Wh-- you’re not fighting!”   
  
“Don’t need to, VIP. Just doing this for fun.”

Pearl tilted her head. “‘VIP’?”

Mega Steg winked. “Very Important Pearl.”

Pearl blushed. “Oh!”

Garnet smirked and pat his back. “Well, I love it.”

“Thanks, Big Shot. Knew you would.”

Amethyst gasped. “Wait! Wait! What’s my nickname!?”   
  
Mega Steg walked over and took a look at her.   
  
“Um.” He bit his lip. “I… Would say rockstar. But that’s Steven's. Sorry, Amethyst.”   
  
Amethyst frowned. “Awe.”

“I’ll think of one.” Mega Steg assured, ruffling her hair. “Don’t wanna disappoint the fans~”

“Awfully cocky, aren’t you?” Pearl teased, sitting back down.

Mega Steg flushed. “W- I--” He curled in on himself. “No… sorry-- I-- Steg can be a little much, huh..?”   
  
“Twoie, it’s okay.” Mega Steg/Steven assured. “We’re fine.”   
  
Pearl nodded. “Yes, it’s fine. I’m glad you three are having fun.”   
  
Mega Steg perked up. “Yeah! I am having fun! Though… it is getting late… I think Da-- Greg wants to go now…”

Mega Steg unfused, all three counterparts in a group hug. They laughed and Greg gave each of his sons a kiss on the forehead. “Man, that was great. Really took a lot outta me, though.” He cracked his back. “Whew.”

“Sorry, dad.” Steven said. 

“It’s okay!” Greg said. “Maybe there’ll be an ‘ _ encore performance _ ’ one day, eh?”

Twoie groaned. “PLEASE no more rockstar puns!”   
  
Greg chuckled. “Alright, alright. I’m gonna head to the Fryman’s and pick up lunch. You guys want anything?”   
  
“The bits!” Both Stevens said at the same time. They looked at eachother and laughed.   
  
Greg nodded. “Got it. And some burgers, since fry bits will  _ not _ fill you up.”   
  
“Okay!!” Steven called as Greg left.

Twoie and Steven looked at each other and smiled, still feeling the wonderful aftereffects of being fused with people they loved for so long.

They hoped things stayed this good for a long time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Leave a comment if you enjoyed!! Just tell me ur thoughts! The fic is BACK, BABEY!!!


	27. Monster Reunion

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Twoie and Steven reunite with an old friend.

The Crystal Gems warped into the beach house and stepped off of the warp. Amethyst flopped down on the couch and groaned.  
  
“Whew…” Steven panted. “That… was intense.”   
  
Twoie chuckled and patted his back. “You’ll be okay…” He handed him the bubble he made with Lace Amethyst’s corrupted gem in it. Steven took the bubble, but didn't send it off yet.   
  
“These monsters--” Steven sat down. “They are so fast.”   
  
Twoie didn’t comment, sitting down next to him.

Steven peeked over at him. “... What’s wrong?”  
  
Twoie shrugged numbly. “Nothin’. Just uh…” He bit his lip. “It bothers me. That these… corrupted gems… they used to be people. I mean, they still are: just sick.”

“Oh, yeah.” Steven frowned, looking at the gem. “... I um… I try not to think about that, though. Makes me sad.”

“Yeah.” Twoie put his head in his hand and sighed. 

Steven looked down at the gem. “Maybe… we can try healing them? _My_ healing power’s gone, but yours might work.”   
  
“Gone??? What???” Twoie furrowed his brows. “Steven, it’s not gone.”   
  
“Yes, it is. I couldn’t heal the geode a while ago…”   
  
Twoie facepalmed. “Steven, the geode couldn’t be healed by your spit. But you can still heal things. Your powers don’t just go away.”   
  
“Really!?” Steven gasped, getting up. “Then let’s go heal a monster!! Let’s go!!”   
  
Twoie shook his head. “It’s pointless.”   
  
“No, it’s not.” Steven kneeled. “Please? We have the power of TWO diamonds!! C’mon!”   
  
Twoie sneered and tensed up, still unsure.   
  
Steven looked up at Twoie with puppy dog eyes. “Pleeeaasssseeeee?~”

Twoie tried to resist, but Steven’s puppy dog eyes were too much. “Fine!” He exclaimed. “I’ll help!”  
  
“Yay!”

“Where are you two going?” Pearl asked. 

“Twoie’s gonna help me uncorrupt a gem!”

Garnet stood. “Then we’re coming in. Just in case.”  
  
Twoie shrugged. “Sure, why not?”   
  
They all went into the bubble room, where Steven released his bubble for it to float up and join the rest. Twoie looked up at the gems with a forlorn expression. Steven didn’t notice and walked over to Centipeetle’s bubble, his best bug buddy! She’d probably be the safest to release. He motioned Amethyst over and she whipped down the bubble and the _CHAAAAPS_ bubble next to it. Steven held both bubbles and smiled. “Aw, _Chaaaaps_ ! Her favourite.” 

He turned to Twoie. “Hey, Twoie! You ready?”  
  
Twoie looked down from the bubbles and nodded silently, tearing up. Steven frowned. “Um, are you… okay?”   
  
Twoie nodded. “I’ll be fine. Let’s do this already. Everyone, put away your weapons, please."   
  
Amethyst dispelled her whip.

Steven bit his lip. If Twoie was sure… 

He popped the bubble and backed up as Centi formed, screeching and still a massive bug monster. 

“C’mon dude! Do your thing!” Amethyst shouted. 

“Be careful!” Said Pearl.

Steven nodded and licked his hand, slapping it on Centi’s gem. He looked to Twoie, but Twoie was just staring as a burst of white light filled the room. When Steven opened his eyes, Centi was reforming.

Steven gasped. 

Pearl gawked. “Is it working?”  
  
Centipeetle stood up and screeched. Her face was still bug like, and she had a stinger.   
  
Steven gasped. “It worked!!”   
  
Pearl frowned as Steven walked over and grabbed the Chaaaps from Amethyst. “Uh, Steven…”   
  
Steven came over. “Centi! You’re back!”   
  
She hissed at him. Steven recoiled. “What’s the matter? Don’t you want some Chaaaps?”

Centi screeched at him.  
  
“I don’t think she remembers them…” Amethyst said.

Steven frowned, feeling his stomach drop a little. “Uh, okay… forget the Chaaaps. You remember me, don’t you?”  
  
Centi tilted her head, to his dismay.

Steven sighed. “Hm… Maybe, uh, Twoie? You gotta do it, too. You didn’t do it the first time.”  
  
Twoie nodded and walked forward without fear.   
  
“Twoie! Don’t get closer!” Pearl called out.   
  
Twoie came up and hugged her close. She hissed and spat, but he kept his hold.   
  
“Hey, buddy.” He said. “I know you don’t know me, but I know you. I just wanna help you, anyway I can.”   
  
Centi calmed down a little and whined in confusion.   
  
Twoie pulled back and kissed her gem. Centi stumbled out of his grasp and rubbed at her gem, then screeched. Twoie sighed. “C’mon, Ne-- Centi.”

Garnet hummed. “Hmph. This is the best we’ve ever seen it work…”

“But it _didn’t_ work.” Pearl said. “I guess it’ll take more than a kiss to heal damage from the Diamonds.”   
  
Twoie flinched. Steven frowned. Damage from the Diamonds?

“Did… did my mom do this?” He asked.

 _“What?”_ Pearl asked. “What gave you that idea?”   
  
“‘Damage from the Diamonds?’” Steven clarified. “Did mom…”   
  
“No.” Pearl said. “It was White, Yellow, and Blue who did this. Pink-- Rose was already on the Earth’s surface when it happened. She didn’t do this to them.”   
  
“Oh.” Steven looked at Centi. “That’s good... “ He sighed. “Why would… why would the Diamonds do such an awful thing?”   
  
“Because,” Twoie began. “They were angry about Pink’s shattering. They wanted to kill every gem on the surface, but without mom’s power with them, they only succeeded in killing their minds, bodies, and spirits.”

The gems looked away, sad and uncomfortable. Steven whined and held his shirt.  
  
Twoie looked back at all them and took a deep breath in, plastering on a small smile. “But not their hearts.”

“What?” Pearl asked.

“Each Diamond relates to a different part.” Twoie said. “Yellow is physical, Blue is mental, White is… spiritual? Or self. But Pink was _heart_. Centipeetle still has heart, she’s still a feeling being and… us giving her healing kisses, brings that out. Makes her less of a… ‘monster’.”

Pearl curiously looked at Centipeetle. "Hm..."

Steven looked up at Garnet. “Does that mean we can keep her out?”  
  
Garnet hummed, looking at Centi, who was looking at herself in one of the reflective tubes. Garnet shook her head. “No, it didn’t work. We need to put her back.”   
  
Twoie whimpered. “Garnet, please.” He came up to her with puppy dog eyes. “Please. Even if she’s not completely healed, she’s still in there somewhere and-- and-- I wanna spend some time with her… she’s not a monster… she-- she has a heart and--”   
  
Garnet smooshed his hair down. “Stop with the puppy dog eyes... We'll keep her out.”   
  
Twoie smiled and hugged her. “Thank you…”   
  
Garnet hugged him back and smiled. 

Pearl crossed her arms. “Where are we going to keep her?”  
  
“In my room!” Steven piped up. “She can stay in my room!”   
  
“Aw, yeah!” Amethyst cheered. “Corrupted roommate!”   
  
Both Pearl and Twoie winced. 

“Amethyst, be sensitive.” Pearl said.

Steven took one of Centi’s hands and led her to the exit. “C’mon, you’re gonna love it.”  
  
She squawked. 

\----------

Steven sat her down on the couch, Twoie was next to her. 

“Okay, Centi--” Steven began. “Oh, I guess that’s not really your name… what _is_ your name?”

Centi gurgled then clicked.

“‘Gurgle click click?’” Steven tilted his head. “Oh, right. Can’t tal--”  
  
“Nephrite.”   
  
“Huh?” Steven looked up at Twoie.

“Nephrite. Her name is Nephrite.”  
  
Nephrite looked over at Twoie, surprised, and then smiled, making a happy chirping noise. Twoie’s eyes lit up a little, for the first time in a while ever since Steven asked him to heal a corrupted gem. 

“You can understand her??” Steven asked.  
  
“No.” Twoie shook his head. “I just… um… looked at her gem.”   
  
“Oh.” Steven looked at her gem. He’d never seen a Nephrite before, so he had nothing to compare it to. “Well, Nephrite, um… you remember me, right? You have to…”   
  
Nephrite tilted her head. Steven sighed. “What about the seagulls? And our adventures in the ice caves? And when I electrocuted you with my-- er-- actually, do forget that one.” He chuckled weakly, then sighed. “... You even forgot chaaaaps…”   
  
He opened the bag.   
  
Nephrite drooled and made a noise at the bag.   
  
“I love chips…” Steven mumbled.

Nephrite imitated Steven’s cadence, like she was singing along.  
  
Steven gasped. “Do… do you remember me singing the Chaaaaps jingle?” He handed her a chip. She examined it before eating and then she squawked happily. Steven beamed. She remembered!

“You love chips!” He sang. She squeaked in rhythm. “I love chips! We love chips from Chaaaaps!”  
  
She beamed and squeaked again. 

“Your memories are still in there! We just have to draw them out!” Steven beamed. “Oh! I know how we can talk, even if your voice is messed up!”  
  
“Steven, don’t.” Twoie said. Steven frowned. “Wh-- why not?”   
  
“... It’s okay to bring out memories she’s had with you, but please, don’t ask her about corruption.”   
  
Nephrite whined. Twoie smiled weakly and pat her head. “It’s okay, Nephrite… Sorry I said the C-word…”   
  
Nephrite leaned into his touch and he hugged her. “Mm…”

Steven frowned. “Well… okay… only good stuff, then.”  
  
He went upstairs and grabbed some paper and crayons. Why did Twoie look so sad? It was obviously more than just corrupted gems once being normal gems… maybe… maybe it got worse in the future? 

He gasped at the thought and paused gathering supplies.  
  
What if the gems never got healed? What if they stayed like that forever? But, worse, what if the corruption just kept going and infecting them more until they cracked or… or _shattered_?

He quickly ran downstairs and slammed down the supplies, startling Nephrite out of Twoie’s hold.  
  
“Twoie!!” Steven cried. “What happens to the corrupted gems!?”   
  
Twoie winced. “Dude, no C-word.”   
  
Nephrite whined.   
  
“Sorry, sorry.” Steven said. “Um. Nephrite, will you be okay on your own for a while? We need to talk.”   
  
Nephrite nodded.

Steven gasped. “Can you understand me?”  
  
Nephrite tilted her head.

“I um… cried on her gem a little..." Twoie said sheepishly. “So she’s a little better, but it’s finicky.”  
  
“Oohh.. well.. If you can understand me, then… I love you, Nephrite!”   
  
Nephrite gasped and blushed, putting a hand to her chest as if to say ‘me’?   
  
Steven beamed. “Yes! I love _you!_ Just thought you should know.”   
  
Nephrite looked down.   
  
Twoie hummed. “Maybe saying ‘I love you’ is different for Homeworld gems.”

“Oh.” Steven said. “Makes sense. Okay, let’s go upstairs.”

Twoie nodded and hopped upstairs. Steven followed and they both sat near the window. Nephrite wandered into the bathroom, curious.

“So…” Steven said. “What’s… um… what happens to them?”  
  
Twoie bit his lip and shrugged. “I dunno if I should say.”   
  
Steven whined, holding Twoie’s hands and using his puppy dog eyes. “But Twoie!! I’m really worried!”   
  
“About what?”   
  
“About… if it gets worse! The corruption! What if corruption is just a _slow_ death!? Like the Diamonds planned!”   
  
Twoie’s eyes widened. “Whoa… uh. No. It’s all good. Um. We heal them."   
  
“Oh!” Steven gasped. “HOW!?”   
  
“... I’ll give you a hint.” He said. “... Diamonds.”   
  
Steven huffed. “Why can’t you just tell me?”   
  
“I dunno! Feels like I shouldn’t.” Twoie crossed his arms. 

Steven crossed his arms back. “Hmph. Fine. Um… so… is that why you’re sad? ‘Cause you know all the monsters?”

“Wow.” Twoie raised his brows. “You are very perceptive. Yes, I am. I…” He looked at the bathroom door, where Nephrite was exiting. “... It hurts seeing them like this. I knew Lace Amethyst, too.”  
  
“Who?”   
  
“The gem we just bubbled.”   
  
“Oh.” Steven frowned. “I’m sorry.”   
  
“It’s okay. Nothing can be done about it now. At least they’re at rest. And I know they’ll be okay.”   
  
“Yeah.” Steven nodded. “So… you wanna go back down?”   
  
Twoie nodded.

They headed back down, Twoie next to Nephrite and Steven on the other side of the table with crayons.

“Okay, so…” Steven slid the paper to her. “Tell me about yourself. I wanna know everything!”  
  
Nephrite tilted her head and grabbed a crayon, scribbling on the paper. She lifted it up and showed Steven.

Steven tilted his head. “Um, okay, guess not.”  
  
Nephrite scowled. Twoie took the paper and gasped. “Oh! It’s Gemglyph! I think?”   
  
“Gemglyph? Oh!! Oh!!” Steven grinned. “Can you read it?”

Twoie squinted. “Maybe? It’s-- It’s Era 1, I believe… I learned Era 2, which isn’t that different, but still. Eugh.”  
  
Nephrite whined sadly. Twoie patted her back. “It’s okay, Nephrite.” He said, in a gentle voice that Steven had never heard before. It soothed him. “I’ll figure it out. I love that you can communicate though, good job.”

Nephrite squawked. Twoie smiled warmly and went back to reading the text. 

“Um… "

Steven’s eyes widened. “Are… you okay, Twoie? You just screamed and gurgled weird for, like, a minute.”

Twoie chuckled. “I was speaking Gemglyph, Steven. Um- it usually sounds prettier. But since I have vocal chords, I make do.”  
  
“Oh!!” Steven beamed. “What does it say?”   
  
“It says ‘Pilot. Very good. Many friends. Pink Diamond.’ Which I think means she was a very good pilot with many friends and she served Pink Diamond.”

Steven bounced up and down on his feet with glee. “Eeeee!!! I can’t believe it!! We can talk!!!”  
  
Nephrite cheered and sprayed a few drops of acid on the couch. Twoie laughed. “Yeah! We can talk!”

“Okay! Okay!” Steven sat down again, at full attention. “Tell me more! What was life like on Homeworld?”  
  
Twoie cringed. “Steven, I’m not sure--”   
  
Nephrite screeched at Twoie and Twoie shut up. Nephrite scribbled out some more Gemglyph and handed it to Twoie. Twoie squinted at it.

“"

Twoie stuttered over some of the words and had to work hard to remember some. He got most of it though.  
  
“Okay, so that means that… ‘life was good. I… go to many planets. Colonize good… or, that might mean ‘correctly’? I saw pretty things, and… had a good time with my crew! Pink Diamond took over, and we go to colonize Earth. Pretty!’”   
  
Steven gasped. “Wow… so many words…”   
  
Twoie chuckled. “It's not a direct translation.”

Steven nodded. “You gotta teach me Gemglyph sometime, Twoie.”  
  
“I will.” Twoie said.   
  
Nephrite slid Steven a drawing of a field with lots of flowers in it. Steven gasped. “This is so pretty!”   
  
Nephrite beamed and squawked out ‘pretty’, mimicking Steven.   
  
Twoie smiled. “You wanna go outside, Nephrite? See the pretty Earth again? It’s changed a lot.”   
  
Nephrite nodded and scampered to the warp pad. Twoie got up and followed.   
  
“Wait, I need to take the paper and stuff!” Steven said, rushing to his closet and pulling out his Cheeseburger Backpack. He put in all the supplies and hopped on the warp. Twoie leaned down and touched the backpack. Steven looked up at him in confusion.   
  
“Sorry.” Twoie said. “Been a while since I’ve seen that thing.”   
  
“Oh! You wanna wear it?”   
  
Twoie thought for a second before nodding. “Sure, I’ll take it.”   
  
Steven handed it to him and Twoie slipped it on, smiling. “Man, I dunno why I ever thought this was stupid! I love this!”

Steven beamed.  
  
Nephrite tapped her foot impatiently. 

“Sorry, Nephrite.” Twoie said, warping them off to the flower field that he went to sometimes to escape. Nephrite gasped and walked off the warp, looking around and sniffing the flowers.  
  
Twoie sat down on the warp and watched her, eyes shining.   
  
Steven sat down, too. He tilted his head. He wondered what she looked like before… or, well, after, since they all became uncorrupted. She was a pilot, apparently… so maybe she had a cool hat on! And a jacket! And… she had a lot of friends. That was nice. And apparently served his mom? He supposed it was better than serving the other Diamonds who did this to her. 

Steven’s head was buzzing with questions. He wanted to know everything about Nephrite and corruption-- mostly, how to heal it. He glanced over to Twoie. "Hey, Twoie?"

"Yeah?  
  
"Are you _really_ sure you can't tell me how to heal the corrupted gems? Wouldn't it be better for them all to be okay now?"  
  
Twoie sighed. "I wish you _could_ heal them, Steven. But, truth is, if I told you, I'm pretty sure you'd risk everything to heal them."  
  
"... But that's... that's good, right?"  
  
"No, Steven. In order to heal them, you need... uh... well, you'll need something. And it's a very delicate situation. If it's rushed into, I'm sure that... that it could put you and everyone else in danger."  
  
Steven huffed and put his cheek in his palm. "Well that wasn't vague at all."  
  
"I just want to protect you."  
  
"I know... But I wanna protect them. It can't be nice being corrupted."  
  
Twoie frowned and muttered. "It isn't."

Nephrite screeched. Twoie looked up. “Nephrite? What’s wrong?”   
  
Nephrite held her head and fell to her knees, her form warbling.   
  
“WHAT?!” Twoie gasped, rushing over and holding her. “No, no, Nephhy, no-- we didn’t even-- we didn’t-- We didn’t even talk about your past! Why are you changing!?”   
  
Steven rushed over as Nephrite reformed, form still glitching. He felt tears come to his eyes as he kissed her gem. She hissed, it didn’t seem to work. Her hand turned into a bug leg and she screamed. Twoie was tearing up. Steven gasped.   
  
“Twoie! Your tears! Try your tears!”   
  
“H-huh??” Twoie looked up. “Oh! Okay!!” He shut his eyes and tried to force his tears to drop down. A few landed on her gem. She hissed and warbled again, before reforming back to normal. She panted and held onto Steven, crying.   
  
“No, no, don’t cry!” Twoie sniffled, hugging her. “Please, Nepphy…”   
  
Steven whined. "What’s wrong, Nephrite? Please. I-- we have paper, you can talk to us.”   
  
Nephrite screeched. Twoie thrust a paper and crayon into her hands. Shakily, she scribbled out:

  
  


Twoie paled.  
  
“ _Earth remind… bad. Off-colour… incorrect? Form Diamond song?”_ He squinted. “‘ _Off-colour incorrect form Diamond song_?’ What-- oh!” He gasped. **_“Corruption!”_ **

Nephrite screamed and glitched out, arms and legs turning back into bug legs.

 _ **“NO!”**_ Twoie and Steven cried.  
  
“Nephrite! Don’t!” Steven begged. “Please, stay calm!”

Nephrite rushed to the warp pad, slamming her hands down on it and warping away. Twoie and Steven ran after her and followed her to the abandoned dropship. She looked around and relaxed slightly, heaving.   
  
“Nephrite, Nephrite,” Twoie put a hand on her back. “You okay? It-- it’ll be okay.” 

Nephrite shook her head and then looked back at them. She took the paper and the crayon from Twoie and with both arms scribbled out a message. She handed it to Steven.  
  


  
  


Steven frowned and handed it to Twoie. Twoie read it and teared up.  
  
“Sh-- she--” He sobbed. “She’s going to her friends again. She says bye.”   
  
Steven teared up, too, and hugged her.   
  
“Oh, Nephrite.” He sighed. “It was nice having you around for a day.”   
  
Nephrite hugged him back and squawked quietly. Twoie hugged her, too. She pulled him in and nuzzled him. Twoie wiped his eyes.   
  
“I promise, Nepphy, I promise one day I’ll heal you.” He said. “I know it’ll take a wh-while but… but one day. I’ll heal you.”   
  
Nephrite tilted her head. She wiped his tears away and nuzzled him again, clicking and gurgling. Twoie smiled weakly. “Thanks.”   
  
“You could understand that?” Steven asked.   
  
“No. But I know what she meant.”   
  
Nephrite got up and looked towards the dropship.   
  
“Want us to come with?” Steven asked. Nephrite looked back at them and then began her walk to the dropship. Twoie sat back down and sighed.   
  
“We should wait and see if she can get in.” He said. “But I think she just wants to meet up with her crew now.”   
  
Steven sat down, too, leaning against Twoie’s shoulder. “Why didn’t she want to before?”   
  
“I don’t know.” He shrugged, his voice croaked. “Um. Maybe she couldn’t remember them before? When you’re corrupted, everything’s a blur. Nothing really makes sense and your mind isn’t there. It’s… it’s like you're just a big bundle of fight or flight instincts.”   
  
Steven furrowed his brows and looked up at Twoie. How would he know? Maybe the gems in the future described it like that. Makes sense. All the corrupted gems did seem like that.   
  
He hugged Twoie, still feeling a pit in his stomach as Nephrite entered the dropship.   
  
“Can we visit her?”   
  
Twoie nodded. “Yeah, ‘course we can.” He kissed Steven’s forehead. “She’d love to see you, Steven.”

“And you.” Steven smiled.  
  
Twoie bit his lip.   
  
“... About that. I… we haven’t really been working on getting the adhesive, have we?”   
  
“O-oh.” Steven frowned, feeling his stomach sink even more. “Yeah, we haven’t. B--but there’s no rush, right?” He looked up at Twoie with big, pleading, eyes. “You don’t have to leave until I’m eighteen.”

Twoie nodded. “Yeah, trust me, I don’t wanna leave. I just think… while things are relatively calm, we should get it. Just in case.”  
  
Steven nodded. “That makes sense.” He breathed out shakily.   
  
“You good?” Twoie asked, pulling him closer. Steven shook his head, starting to cry. “I-- I don’t like thinking about you leaving…”   
  
Twoie sighed and nodded. “Same here, buddy. But, don’t worry, that’s not for a long time.” He smiled, kissing Steven’s forehead. “So dry those tears. I’m here to stay.”

Steven wiped his eyes and nodded. “Y--yeah, I know. It just hurts.”  
  
Twoie held him close and rubbed his back. “I know. But we got time. We got time.”   
  
Steven hugged him back and buried his face in Twoie’s plush pink jacket. Twoie was right. Even if he had to leave, it wouldn’t be soon. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Leave a comment if you enjoyed! Tell me ur thoughts!


	28. Sector 7, Quadrant 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Crystal Gems go to a planet in Sector 7, Quadrant 9. They get something good, and something very bad.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've just realized that a lot of chapters are really short. I'm sorry about that. But I guess since it takes forever to write, it seems longer. You guys haven't seem to have minded, though, so thanks for that. 
> 
> tw?// bacteria mention

“Are you all packed?”   
  
“Yeah!” Steven called, zipping up his cheeseburger backpack. Twoie had a more grown up backpack slung over his shoulder, and gave a thumbs up.   
  
“Great!” Pearl clapped her hands together. “Oh, Steven, I can’t wait for you to see space! It’ll be so nice!”   
  
Steven smiled. The shine in her eyes eased his nerves.   
  
“So… your ship.” Amethyst said to Twoie. “Where is it?”   
  
“Desert.” Twoie said. “We’re probably gonna take Lion there. After warping, of course.”

The team nodded, walking to the warp after Twoie. Steven caught up with him.   
  
“I didn’t know we had a ship!”   
  
“Well, technically, it was moms.” Twoie said. “But since she’s gone, it’s ours now.”   
  
Pearl frowned. “... Rose never told me she had a ship.”   
  
Twoie chuckled. “Don’t worry, it wasn’t really a secret at the time. You’ll see when we’re there.”

They were warped into the African desert and Twoie hopped onto Lion’s back, placing Steven in front of him. “There ‘ya go. Everybody else hop on or get in the mane.”   
  
Pearl got behind Twoie while Garnet and Amethyst got into the mane.    
  
“Are you sure you know what you’re doing?” Pearl asked. Twoie nodded. “Mhmm. I know where we’re going.”   
  
He leaned down and whispered something to Lion, who perked up and raced off. Twoie smiled and pet him.   
  
“If you can, go quick. Us half-humans won’t be too good out here for too long.”

Lion huffed and kept his pace. Twoie shrugged. “Alright. Well, good thing we got water.”

\----------

Half an hour later, they arrived at what appeared to be two pink pyramids that were on either side of a locked door. Twoie hopped off Lion and took a swig of his water, petting the beast.   
  
“Thanks, bud.”   
  
Everyone else got off except for Pearl, who was staring at the pink mounds in awe.   
  
“Twoie, you can’t be serious.”   
  
“You got a better idea?” Twoie asked. “I  _ know _ . I  _ know _ it’s risky. But! What other ship do we have?? Also, as long as we avoid any major gem spots, we’ll be fine!”   
  
“Yo, what’re we talking about?” Amethyst asked. “I don’t see a ship.”   
  
Pearl facepalmed. “Twoie…”   
  
“Maybe we can repurpose some parts!” Twoie said. “Maybe we could only use the butt?”   
  
“It’s not called  _ the butt! _ ”

“But it’s a butt!”

“DUDES!” Amethyst shouted. Twoie and Pearl turned to her.   
  
“What’re y’all TALKING about!?”   
  
Twoie sighed. “Let me show you.”

He walked over to one of the pink pyramids and set his hand against it. Suddenly, the pyramids lit up and started to move. Steven gasped and backed up as a giant pair of legs emerged from the sand. 

“WHOA!!! WHY IS IT LEGS!?”

Twoie chuckled. “Because, it’s a part of the Diamond Mech.”

Pearl groaned. “It’s not called the Diamond Mech.”   
  
Twoie glared. “Then what’s it called?”

“There’s no translation in English.”   
  
“Then it’s the Diamond Mech.”

“Whoa, whoa,” Amethyst stepped up. “Are you telling me this belonged to Pink Diamond!?”   
  
Twoie nodded. “Exactly! And I already know how to pilot it! It’s gotta be real powerful since it’s a diamond ship, right?!”   
  
“This is very dangerous.” Garnet said. 

Steven tilted his head. “Why?”   
  
“Because,” Pearl pinched her brows. “If a gem sees  _ Pink Diamond’s  _ ship just  _ parading _ through the galaxy, they’ll contact the other Diamonds and then the Diamonds will come for us!”   
  
Twoie groaned. “What other choice do we HAVE!? We can’t just blast off into space now! And human spaceships suck!!”   
  
Garnet adjusted her visor. “I see a Ruby ship coming up in a week.”   
  
“But that’s a whole thing!” Steven said. “And, none of us know how to pilot it!”   
  
“We can learn.”   
  
Twoie sighed. “I already  _ got  _ the legs. Can you look into the future and see if this’ll even work?”   
  
Garnet nodded and tapped her visor, seeing into the future. 

“... The legs are detachable. And there is a camouflage option.”

Twoie beamed. “Perfect!! Camo!!”   
  
“Oh, sweet, problem fixed.” Amethyst said.   
  
“Can I drive!?” Steven asked. Twoie chuckled. “Maybe on the way back, buddy. This thing’s hard to operate.”   
  
“Aw.”    
  
Pearl frowned. “Now, hold on--”   
  
“Pearl, it’ll work out.” Garnet said, putting a hand on her shoulder. “Let’s just go. We’re losing daylight.”   
  
“What does  _ that  _ matter?” Pearl asked as everyone headed to the ship.

“Because,” Garnet said. “If it’s night, our boys will get sleepy.”   
  
She headed off. Pearl sighed and followed behind.

Steven stepped inside the ship and looked around in awe.   
  
“Wow… it’s so…  _ Pink _ .” 

“I know, right?” Amethyst gaped. “Dang… how do you even control this thing? There’s no control panel!”   
  
Twoie stepped up onto the beginning of the walkway, pink enveloping his legs.   
  
“OH!” Amethyst exclaimed. “Of COURSE!”   
  
Steven sat down and stared at Twoie’s legs. “Whoa… so do you just jump?”   
  
Twoie nodded. “Mhmm. After we feed the coordinates to it, that is. Pearl? You ready?”   
  
Pearl sighed. “Yeah. I just…” She clamped down on her stomach to stop her shaking.    
  
Concern emanated from the group. Steven came up and held her hand. “Pearl, what’s wrong?”   
  
“Memories. Of Pink. Of Rose.” She sighed shakily. “It’s a lot. I’m sorry I’m so emotional right now.”   
  
Twoie’s shoulders slumped and he bit his lip. “I’m so sorry, Pearl, I didn’t even think…”

“It’s okay.” Pearl breathed out and handed the coordinates drive to Garnet. “Please.”   
  
Garnet nodded and walked to the back of the ship, plugging it in.    
  
Twoie deactivated the legs and walked over to Pearl. “Are you sure you’re okay?”   
  
Pearl nodded. “Yes, yes, don’t worry about me… I’ll be fine.”   
  
Twoie hugged her. “Okay. I really am sorry, though..."   
  
Pearl hugged him back. Steven hugged her legs. She looked down and laughed. “Aw, thank you, Steven.”   
  
Steven looked up at her and smiled comfortingly.   
  
“We’re ready to go.” Garnet said, giving a thumbs up. Twoie nodded. “Right.”   
  
He hopped up on the walkway, pink enveloping his legs again as he began to run in place, the whole ship going with him. Soon, he crouched and jumped, taking off and following the coordinates.

Steven sat down and watched stars and planets go by through the window, getting settled in for the journey ahead.

\----------

“We’re here.” Garnet announced. Steven yawned and rubbed the sleep from his eyes. “Mmn.. what time is it?”   
  
Twoie, who was letting the ship go on autopilot, grumbled something. Steven huffed. “Twoie… we gotta wake up.”   
  
“I got it.” Amethyst said, walking up to Twoie. She bent down and screamed in his ear, startling him out of his sleep with a shriek. Amethyst laughed. Twoie chuckled and kicked her playfully.   
  
“Oh, you wanna go?” Amethyst teased, turning into Purple Puma and growling.   
  
“Enough roughhousing!” Pearl chided. “We need to get on the planet before anyone sees us!”   
  
“Oh, right.” Twoie said, getting up and landing the legs on the planet's surface.

Steven got up and walked out of the legs, with everyone behind him. He gasped, taking in the planet.

The planet seemed to be mostly water, with little semi-hard islands scattered about. The water was a vibrant blue but full of bacteria. To his left, he could see one of four bridges, each a different diamond colour, that led to the giant spire in the middle that housed the adhesive. Most of the bridges were worn down and broken, but the one closest to them was the least broken. 

Twoie knelt down on the edge of the island and peered in the water. “Huh.. what’re all those specks?”   
  
“Bacteria, I’m sure.” Pearl said. “Don’t swallow it or you’ll get hurt."   
  
Amethyst peeked down, too.   
  
“Huh. How’re we gonna cross without swimming, then?”   
  
Steven facepalmed. “Oh, man, I wish I had brought my raft now!”   
  
Twoie chuckled. “It’ll be fine. Maybe… maybe the gems can fuse and carry us across? They don’t have stomachs, so…”   
  
“Speak for yourself!” Amethyst said. “I got a stomach!”   
  
“Then shapeshift it away!”

Garnet shook her head. “It won’t work. Alexandrite is too heavy, the island will collapse.    
  
“True.” Twoie sighed. “What if… we  _ all  _ fuse? Obsidian probably doesn’t have a stomach.”   
  
“She has lava in her veins. This water would turn all her joints into stone. And, again, she's too heavy."

Twoie groaned and laid back on the island. “Man…”   
  
Steven narrowed his eyes at the water. Maybe they could bubble their heads and go across that way? No, no, the bacteria could still get in. Maybe they could bubble their bodies? But then they’d sink…    
  
He gasped.   
  
“I got an idea! What if me and Twoie bubbled ourselves and Amethyst pulled us across with her whip?”   
  
Amethyst perked up. “Good idea!”

“How is she gonna get across?” Pearl asked.   
  
“She can swim!” Steven said. “You guys don’t have stomachs.”

Pearl opened her mouth to object again, but Amethyst cut her off.   
  
“It’s chill, P. I got this.”   
  
She shapeshifted into a bird and flew to the next island, then touched down and summoned dual whips.   
  
“Bubble yourselves!”   
  
Steven and Twoie did so, and she dragged them across.

Pearl frowned. "Well, I'm not going to shapeshift."

Garnet shapeshifted into a giant eagle and picked Pearl up by the arms. Pearl was startled at first, but soon accepted it. They continued this pattern all the way to the bridge. 

Twoie and Steven got out of their bubbles, both dizzy.   
  
“Whooooaaaa~” Steven giggled. “The world is spinning~”   
  
“I know, right?” Twoie laughed.   
  
“Be serious, you two.” Pearl said, walking ahead with the rest of the group.

Twoie and Steven chuckled.   
  
“Yes, Pearl.” They both said at the same time. They chuckled again and followed the group.   
  
The tower ahead was big and blue, made out of a hard, glass-like, material that made it glimmer in the nearest star’s light. The doorway was open, with a Diamond accolade settled on top. Once they stepped inside, they saw many similarities to the sea shrine: there was a continuous arcade of pillars along the inside, providing sturdy shelter for the artifacts below. There were many different timepieces: some broken, some intact. Steven suggested they use one to Garnet, but Garnet said they were unpredictable, and as such, should be left alone.

In front of them was a winding staircase leading upwards to the top through many floors that had glass at the bottom, allowing all to look up and see what others were doing. The team walked up the steps, glancing around at all the time devices, big and small. 

At the top of the tower were four columns, with the diamond insignia in the abacuses, leading to four arrises that made up the top of the curved roof. In front of them was a short colonnade that led to a separate platform. On top of a stout pedestal was a giant hourglass full of pink, sparkling, adhesive.

“Is that it?” Steven asked.   
  
“Looks like it.” Pearl said. “All we need is to take a good bit of this home and we’re all set!”   
  
“Perfect.” Amethyst said. “So, how we getting it home?”

“Um…” Pearl thought then turned to the hybrids. “Do either of you have a receptacle we could place some of this in?”   


Steven pulled out a mason jar. “Yep!!”   
  
Twoie smiled. “Good job, Steven.” He ruffled his hair. Steven smiled at the praise and handed the jar to Pearl. 

Pearl knelt down in front of the hourglass and pressed on the small chute door, the adhesive leaking out into the mason jar and filling it. She let go of the chute and closed the mason jar when done.

“Alright!” She smiled, putting it in her gem. “That’s that!”   
  
“Yay!~” Steven smiled. “Now we don’t have to worry about that until Twoie leaves.”   
  
Pearl nodded. “Yes, yes. Now, let’s head back.   
  
They descended the steps and headed to Pink’s legs.

“So…” Amethyst asked a while later. “When  _ is _ Twoie leaving?”   
  
“When Steven’s eighteen, like me.” Twoie said.   
  
“Oh, good.” Amethyst sighed in relief. “I thought since we got the adhesive...”   
  
“...He’ll have to leave sooner than that.” Garnet said as they entered the ship.   
  
“What?” Everyone asked. 

Garnet frowned and adjusted her visor. “Twoie is already disrupting the time stream. My vision keeps going in circles when I focus on him, and there have been some… anomalies recently.”   
  
“Anomalies?” Twoie asked in a whisper. Steven bit his lip and tugged on his backpack straps.

“Yes.” Garnet said. “We keep switching to almost identical timelines, but with minut changes. For instance, the picture frame next to the doorway: it used to be brown, but now it’s blue.”   
  
“That’s ridiculous.” Pearl said. “It must’ve always been blue.”   
  
“Nope.” Garnet shook her head. “Every day that picture frame has changed. It’s small, but it means bigger things are coming soon.”   
  
“L-like what?” Amethyst asked. 

Garnet thought. “Hm. I can’t use my future vision to predict that, however, I think that next larger things will change. The picture itself, the floorboards being oak or birch, a coat Steven owns being changed to a different coat…”   
  
“But that doesn’t mean anything!” Steven cried. “I don’t care what colour a picture frame is! Or what the floor’s made out of!”   
  
“Yes, but the time stream does.” Garnet said. “That picture frame had to be picked out by one of us. The main timeline has it brown, but this timeline has it blue. That means that that changed which picture frames were picked out by every single person, how one of us paid for the frame, how a frame that previously was in another home is now in ours… same with your coat: A coat changing means that previous coat went to someone else, or is in the trash. And that coat that you now own, belonged to someone else at some point. So it affects many, many, different things, minut decisions and interactions that all add up to bigger changes.”

“But how come you’ve noticed and we haven’t?? A-and why didn't you tell us this sooner?" Pearl asked.   
  
“I see all of time.” Garnet said. “So, I’m a little outside of this than the rest of you. And as for not telling you... I was going to, but I didn't want to lower the team's morale before going to another planet."

Twoie gulped. “D-does that mean I have to leave soon?”   
  
The group went cold.

Garnet glanced back at him, then turned away and sighed. “I’m afraid so. Maybe even by tomorrow.”   
  
**_“TOMORROW!?”_ ** Amethyst and Pearl screeched. Amethyst stomped up to Garnet. “It’s only small things!! Why he gotta leave  **TOMORROW!?”**

“I’m just as sad as the rest of you, but time is… unpredictable. Some of the paths of my future vision have just… _vanished_ … since he’s gotten here…”   
  
Pearl gasped. Steven held onto Twoie. Twoie put a hand on his head to comfort him.

Amethyst backed up, a lost expression on her face. She glanced at Twoie and then looked up at Garnet.   
  
Garnet sighed. “I know. I know. But we’ll see him again.”   
  
“We will?” Steven whimpered.   
  
Garnet nodded. “In four years, when you’re all grown.”   
  
Steven frowned. “But then  _ I  _ won’t see him!!” He buried his head in Twoie’s jacket.   
  
“Yeah.” Twoie replied hollowly. “And he won’t grow up to be me. At least, I hope he won’t.”   
  
“That’s even worse!” Steven cried.   
  
Garnet sighed, putting her head in her hands. “Twoie, please, take us home.”   
  
Twoie knelt down and hugged Steven. “Hey, bud, it’s gonna be okay.”   
  
“It’s not!!”   
  
“It is!” It is.” Twoie smiled unconvincingly. “Why don’t we head home and talk about it more then, huh? Get you some food, maybe some ice cream?”   
  
Steven wiped his tears. “I-Ice cream’s not gonna make me feel better about you dying…”   
  
Twoie sighed. “I know.”  He hugged him. “But we gotta go home. We’ll talk more then. You still wanna steer the ship?”   
  
Steven looked up at the walkway and shrugged. “I dunno…”   
  
“Here.” Twoie lifted him up and carried him to the pad, setting him down as pink light enveloped Steven’s legs.   
  
“You can take off for us, okay?”   
  
Steven nodded.    
  
“Okay, so… all you gotta do is turn around, run, then jump! You can do that, right, buddy?”   
  
Steven nodded again and turned around, shuffling his feet. He looked out the window and sighed, walking.    
  
“That’s it! Just faster.” Twoie said. Steven knew the only way out of this and into autopilot was to do as Twoie said, so he ran and jumped, blasting them off towards Earth.   
  
“Good job!” Twoie raised his hand for a high five. Steven could tell he was trying to cheer them both up, so went along with his childish victory and high fived him. It’d make his brother feel better, at least.

It was a quiet ride home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Leave a comment if you enjoyed! I love hearing your thoughts!


	29. Goodbye

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Twoie prepares to leave the past

Steven and Twoie were seated on the couch, Garnet at the counter and Amethyst on the floor next to the boys. They all sat in silence, watching the temple door. It opened and Pearl came out, holding Amethyst’s time glass, completely repaired.   
  
“I fixed it.” She said meekly.

The group didn’t say anything. Steven looked up at Twoie, but Twoie avoided his gaze, lips drawn into a thin line.

Garnet sighed and stood after a long silence.   
  
“It’s time for Twoie to go, then.”

“Does he really have to?” Steven murmured, scooching into Twoie’s lap and hugging him. Twoie’s lip wobbled.   
  
“Yes.” Garnet said. “I know, I know. None of us want him to leave. However… it must be done.” She looked over to the picture frame by the door. Everyone followed her gaze. It was yellow. Steven remembered it vaguely being brown, or blue, or something else. It was all very vague.

“But I don’t want him to.” Steven sniffled, wiping his eyes. “He-- he’s--”   
  
“It’s okay.” Twoie said, voice watery. He held Steven close. “It’ll be okay, buddy. I’ll still be w-with you. At your core.”   
  
Steven sobbed softly and held him back. Pearl and Garnet averted their eyes.   
  
Amethyst stood.   
  
“Well… we can at least all say goodbye, right?” She asked Garnet. “One last little hangout before he goes?”   
  
Garnet adjusted her visor. “Hmmm…”   
  
“Please.” Pearl said. 

Garnet sighed. “I suppose we can. Time itself won’t collapse this instant.”

Relief washed over Pearl and Amethyst. Twoie and Steven were too busy reassuring each other to hear her.   
  
Amethyst sat down on the couch next to Twoie and crossed her legs, rubbing her palms along them to get out her nervous energy.   
  
“So… um…”   
  
Twoie looked back at her and wiped his eyes. “What? I-- I’m not ready yet--”   
  
“I know! I know. Um. Garnet said we could all hang out before you go. Like… say goodbye and stuff.”   
  
“O-oh.” Twoie nodded. “Okay. Yeah. Yeah. Just, give us a moment--”   
  
“No, no, it’s okay.” Steven said, wiping his eyes. “Um, you go s-say goodbye. We’ll-- we’ll do this later.”   
  
Twoie frowned. “You sure?”   
  
Steven nodded. “Mhmm.”   
  
Twoie kissed Steven’s forehead and gave him another hug. “Ok. Be back soon.”   
  
“Ok.”   
  
Twoie stood up and wiped his eyes. 

“So… who wants to say bye first, I guess?”   
  
Amethyst looked at Pearl. Pearl looked at Garnet. Garnet looked down. Pearl looked back at Amethyst.   
  
Amethyst sighed and pushed Twoie towards Pearl. “Go talk and junk. I’m gonna be in my room.”   
  
“O-okay.” Twoie said. “I’ll visit you next.”   
  
Amethyst didn't respond, going into her room. Twoie sighed.   
  
Steven went upstairs and got out some paper from his desk, clicking a pen and beginning to mark the paper.

**\----**

Twoie jumped to the top of the waterfall where Pearl sat. He sat down next to her.   
  
“... So, how do these actually work?” He asked. “I’ve always wondered that.” He said after a moment of silence. Pearl seemed surprised at his question, then smiled and looked down at the waterfall.   


“Well… the water at the bottom of the lake collects into a vortex, that goes to other, smaller, vortexes that are below these bowls that form the water…”   
  
“Wow.” Twoie nodded, chuckling. “That’s cool.”   
  
“Yes.” Pearl muttered.    
  
“...”   
  
Pearl sighed. “I’m going to… miss you, Twoie. Or, can I call you Steven? That is your name after all…”   
  
“‘Course.”   
  
“Steven.” Pearl sighed. “I know I’ll see you again in the near future, but it… it won’t be the same, will it? Steven will obviously grow up to be much different than you…” She put a hand through her hair, mussing it up a bit. “... that’s not to say I won’t love whoever you--  _ he  _ grows up to be… but… we hardly got to spend any time together, Steven. Not even a year.”   
  
Twoie smiled sadly and scooted closer to her, putting an arm around her.   
  
“Yeah. I know. I wish I could spend more time here, too… But I’m sure I don’t want time collapsing around me…”

“Yes, that would be rather unfortunate.” Pearl ached, leaning against him and putting her arm around him, too, so they were half-hugging each other.   
  
“... Did…” She bit her lip. “Did I do a good job?”   
  
“What?” Twoie blinked.   
  
“At raising you.” Pearl gulped. “Did I do a good job? And be honest. If I didn’t, I want to know. Don’t sugarcoat anything.”

Twoie thought for a moment and then sighed. “I… think you did your best.” He murmured, not looking her in the eye. “You never… were a kid. You never… had a kid or… knew what a kid  _ was _ … and, you hated me for a long time, so--”   
  
“What??” Pearl balked. “ _ Hated _ you? I never  _ hated  _ you! When-- when did…” Her face fell into concern. “When did you think I hated you?”   
  
Twoie glanced at her. “Um… when you first took me in.”   
  
He shifted, removing his arm from her. “I didn’t know at the time, but… I figured… the wound was still fresh. You weren’t over Rose-- you still aren’t-- and that’s fine-- but you were… really hurting back then. So, I think you brushed me off or made fun of me or ignored me because… you thought of me as the stupid reason  _ why _ Rose ki-- died.” He gulped. “Died. Because of me. S-so you both blamed me and also hoped to the stars that one day I would become her. That one day she’d pop out like it was all a bad dream.”   
  
Pearl hugged him, tears in her eyes.   
  
“I never hated you, Steven. I was just--” She sniffled. “Just  _ hurting _ . I was hurting so badly and… yes, I was bitter for some of those reasons, but I  _ never _ hated you.”   
  
Twoie hugged back, feeling his own eyes water.

“Um… but other than that, you did good.” He said. “You did good. You hurt me sometimes, you messed up, I felt horrible, but you didn’t know I felt that way. An- and at the end of the day, you loved and cared about me. So you did good.”

Pearl let out a sad, one beat, laugh.   
  
“Thank you.” She sniffled. “I’m-- I’m glad. And now… hopefully I can do even better.”   
  
“Yeah.” Twoie murmured, squeezing her tight and pulling back. “I love you, Pearl.”   
  
“I love you, too, Steven.” She kissed his forehead and smiled warmly at him. Twoie let a few tears fall and wiped them away. 

He spent a few minutes working himself down from crying. She worked herself down, too, and helped him through it. Eventually they were composed again.   
  
“Sorry.” Pearl chuckled.    
  
“No, no, it’s okay.” Twoie said. “It’s okay.”   
  
Pearl nodded. “... so… got anything ‘ _ cool~’ _ to tell me about the future?”   


Twoie thought.   
  
“Hm… I have a lot to tell you, but if I do, it might mess up stuff.”   
  
Pearl nodded. “I understand.”   
  
Twoie bit his lip. “... How do you feel about the corrupted gems?”   
  
Pearl frowned. “Oh… what else is there to feel? Sad, hopeless… don’t tell Steven, but I don’t think he’ll be able to heal them. If Pink Diamond…  _ Rose _ … couldn’t do it… then…”   
  
“Yeah, you’re right.” Twoie said. “Steven couldn’t do it alone.”   
  
“Oh, that’s sa-- wait.” Pearl’s eyes widened. “Do…  _ do  _ we do it?”   
  
Twoie smiled.    
  
Pearl beamed and hugged him. “Steven!!!! Oh my goodness!!! How!?”   
  
Twoie chuckled. “If I tell you, do you promise not to rush to it?”   
  
“No!” Pearl exclaimed. “I want to heal them as soon as possible!”   
  
Steven frowned. “Then… I won’t say it.”   
  
Pearl groaned. “Oh, alright! I won’t rush! Now, please, tell me.”   
  
Twoie narrowed his eyes. “Promise? Because if you do, then they probably won’t be healed.”

Pearl nodded definitively. 

“Okay… so... in order to undo the damage of all the Diamonds… you need all the Diamonds to undo the damage.”   
  
Pearl paled. “No…”   
  
“Yes.” Twoie said. “Blue, Yellow,  _ and  _ White.”

“How did… how did you get them to  _ heal _ , though?”

Twoie shrugged. “I’m a persuasive kid.”

Pearl scoffed. “Oh my stars.”

“It’s true!” Twoie said. “Anyways, wait until Blue and Yellow come to Earth for that, okay?”   
  
“They’re coming to Earth!?”   
  
“Don’t worry about that for now, you’ll be fine.” He said. “And it’s a long way away.”

Pearl nodded. “Okay… okay…”   
  
She looked down to the basement. “I can’t believe… they’re all going to be back one day.”   
  
“Mhmm.” Twoie said. “Crazy Lace and Obsidian will be real happy to see you again.”   
  
Pearl gasped. “Crazy Lace… Obsidian… oh, I forgot about them…” She smiled and wiped her eyes. “Augh, I’m a blubbering mess today…”   
  
Twoie smiled. “It’s okay. This is a very… emotional time.”   
  
Pearl nodded. “Mm. Alright, alright, you should talk to Amethyst now… I....” She sniffled. “I need to… process for a moment.”   
  
“Okay.” Twoie hugged her. “I love you, Pearl.”   
  
“I love you, too, Steven…” Pearl hugged him back tightly. Twoie wheezed.   
  
“Pearl… you’re… crushing… me…”   
  
“Oh!” She let go, smiling sheepishly. “Sorry!”

“It’s okay…” Twoie croaked, cracking his back. “Whew… alright, I’ll dive down to Amethyst. See you later.”   
  
“Goodbye.” She waved.    
  
Twoie leapt off of the waterfall and dived down into the lake. Pearl’s smile slowly dropped as she let her tears finally flow freely, sobbing in her now quiet room.

Twoie popped out of one of Amethyst’s puddles, stumbling and tripping over piles of garbage.   
  
“Oof!” He fell, then groaned and slowly got up. “Man… so much junk…”   
  
“Hey.” 

Twoie looked up, spotting Amethyst lounging on a junk pile that was mostly cushions, mattresses, sofas, and other soft things. Twoie waved. “Hey, Amethyst. Can I join you?”   
  
“Duh.” Amethyst said, patting the spot next to her. 

Twoie clambered up, getting a little help from Amethyst’s whip before he finally collapsed on the top with her and sighed, sinking in.   
  
“Wow… I don’t think I’ve ever seen an organized pile…”   
  
“What!? They’re  _ all _ organized.” She said. “This is my comfy pile, that--” She pointed to a pile with mish mash junk. “Is the  _ ‘mostly-broken-but-not-really-pile’ _ … and next to it is the half broken pile. And behind it is uh…”   
  
She narrowed her eyes.   
  
“Oh. Hah. that’s just random junk.”

Twoie laughed. “Real organized.”   
  
“I know, right?” Amethyst laid back, smiling. Her smile quickly faded and she sighed. “I don’t want you to go.”   
  
“Me neither.”   
  
“Then… why don’t you just…  _ not _ go?” Amethyst said. “We can just smash the time thingy ‘ _ accidentally’ _ and then you won’t be able to leave!”   
  
“Amethyst… you know that if I don’t go, that the whole time--”   
  
“Yeah, yeah.” Amethyst groaned. “Time will fall apart or whatever but.. What if it DOESN’T? Like, what if Garnet’s  _ wrong _ !? And we’re making a big, stupid, mistake, that doesn’t need to happen! And you can stay forever!”   
  
Twoie shook his head. “I don’t wanna risk it, Amethyst. We all know this has been coming.”   
  
Amethyst sighed. “I know.”

A silence loomed over the two, pressing on their hearts and making them feel even worse.   
  
Amethyst groaned. “Y’know what? Let’s not… talk about any of that stupid shit. Let’s just talk about good shit. Like… stuff that doesn’t even matter. I don’t want my last conversation with you to be depressing and awkward.”

“Same here.” Twoie said. “Hard not to feel like shit, though.”   
  
“Yeah. C’mere.”   
  
“Huh?”   
  
Amethyst opened her arms. “Come here. We can, like… cuddle and talk.” She bit her lip. “I won’t beable to hold you again, either.”   
  
Twoie smiled and crawled over, laying on her halfway and allowing himself to be held. Amethyst smiled and kissed his forehead. “Love you, man.”   
  
Twoie’s eyes watered. “I- I love you, too.”   
  
“Hey!” Amethyst flicked his forehead. “No crying. You’ll make me cry.”   
  
Twoie laughed. “H-hard not to…”   


Amethyst grabbed a stuffed animal and shoved it in his face. He sputtered and took it off. “Rude!” He smacked her in the face with it back. She laughed and shoved it back in.   
  
“What? Twoie scared of a _ wittol teddy bwear?~” _

_ “Noooo!~” _ Twoie laughed and grabbed his own stuffed animal, putting it in her face. She opened her mouth and chomped down on it.   
  
“Amethyst!! No!!” Twoie guffawed.

Amethyst spat it out and shrugged, giggling. “What? You can’t just shove something in my face and expect me  _ not  _ to eat it!”   
  
Twoie narrowed his eyes in curiosity and put his hand near her mouth.

Amethyst smirked. “Sure you wanna test that, little man?”   
  
“Hey! I’m a big man!” 

“Sorry, forgot, you’re a  _ big boy _ now~” She teased. Twoie flicked her forehead.   
  
“Ow!”   
  
They laughed. 

“So, big boy got any  _ girls  _ in his life?~” Amethyst smirked. Twoie blushed. “Amethyst!!”   
  
“What??” Amethyst beamed. “I wanna know!!”   
  
Twoie rolled his eyes. “Alright… but don’t tell Steven.”   
  
“Wouldn’t dream of it.”   
  
“... Me and Connie are dating--”   
  
Amethyst whooped.  _ “GET IT!!” _   
  
Twoie smacked her arm playfully. She snickered. “Sorry, I’m just happy for you, bro.”   
  
“Thanks… uh, we’ve been dating for like… almost a year now…”   
  
“Ooh~” Amethyst smiled. “That’s good!”

“Yeah! I can’t wait to… see her… again.”   
  
He frowned.   
  
Amethyst bit her lip. “... Listen, man. We don’t know what’s gonna happen when you go back. We’ll just have to wait and see, ‘kay? Maybe nothing will change. But that’s not that bad, dude. Just… don’t think about it for now. ‘Ya had a good life, and you’re helping your younger self have an even better one.”    
  
She held him closer, putting the teddy bear on his chest. 

“I won’t say it’ll be okay, but you won’t be really dead. We all know that. Steven, aka  _ you _ , will be fine. And… hey… maybe time works differently than we think? Like, last time, there were a hundred of you until the glass broke. So… maybe there will just be two of you. Or you’ll be in another timeline or some shit and uh… still have your life. But it won’t be Steven’s timeline? Ugh, you know what I mean.”

Twoie considered what she said and nodded.   
  
“You’re right.”

“Man…” Amethyst leaned her head back. “If I had a dollar for every time someone has said that to me…” She smirked. “I’d have one dollar.”

Twoie snorted. 

Amethyst smiled down at him, warmth in her eyes.

“Alright, bud, let’s get off this bummer train. Wanna hear about this one time where Pearl was drunk and trying to catch a lawnmower?”   
  
Twoie choked. “What!?”   
  
Amethyst cackled. “I know, right!?”

Twoie laughed. “Pearl was  _ drunk _ !?”   
  
“That was the only night she--” Amethyst snorted. “She got drunk. I mean, y’know, you gotta try everything once! So, uh, we were all smashed, right?”   
  
“And who’s ‘we’?”   
  
“Garnet, me, Pearl, and Rose. It was Garnet’s first time, too, but not for me and Rose.  _ So _ , we’re smashed, and I get the absolute  _ brilliant  _ idea to fuck around with this lawnmower and see if it’ll bury itself in the ground. Pearl obviously doesn’t think it’s a good idea but me and Rose are already up and revving it. So we made it so it just kinda moved in circles on it’s own, and it was funny at first but got really annoying. So, Pearl,  _ saint _ that she is, decides her drunk ass is gonna stop it.”   
  
Twoie chuckled. “Oh my god.”   
  
“So she--” Amethyst snickered. “She gets up and starts chasing it, but it’s too fast! And she’s super lanky so she keeps tripping and leaping for it, but it just runs her over everyt-everytime--” Amethyst snickered louder. “It got so funny watching her try that we couldn’t stop laughing. Eventually she came back and we just started throwing rocks at it, which was even funnier because we were all drunk and tryna hit a moving object with fuckin’ rocks-- this lasted, like, an  _ hour _ before it ran outta gas.”   
  
Twoie wheezed. Amethyst laughed with him.   
  
“Don’t tell Pearl I told you that!”

“I--” Twoie snorted, wiping his eyes. “Holy shit. I won’t, I won’t. But oh my  _ god. _ ”   


They both laughed for a good while, making little jokes about that night with eachother and starting up their laughter again. Twoie’s cheeks hurt by the end of it and he sighed, finally letting himself stop.

“Wow…” He sighed. “Okay, thanks, Amethyst.” He smiled. “I feel better now.”   
  
“Glad you do.” Amethyst ruffled his hair.    
  
Twoie looked at his phone and pressed his lips together. “I think I gotta see Garnet now… it’s been a while.”   
  
Amethyst frowned. “Mm.”   
  
She hugged him close again and squeezed tight.   
  
“Ow! Amethyst!”   
  
“Sorry, dude.” Amethyst said, squeezing harder. “I’m just gonna miss ‘ya!”   
  
She finally let go and Twoie groaned, cracking his back . Amethyst smirked.   
  
“Jeez, break a hip, geezer?”   
  
Twoie rolled his eyes and got up, smiling. “Rude.”   
  
“You betcha. Now get a move on. Or do I need to grab a walker?”

“I’m going, I’m going!” Twoie said, hopping down from the pile and over to the lake. He waved before jumping in. Amethyst waved too, then sighed and laid back on the pile, shutting her eyes and holding the teddy close like she did Twoie.

Twoie popped up in another lake, leaped over to another one, and landed in Garnet’s room.   
  
“Hey, Garnet!”   
  
Garnet looked up. She was in a meditative stance.   
  
“Hello, Twoie.”   
  
Twoie hopped down from the tubes and landed in front of her.   
  
“Come sit.”

Twoie did so, folding his hands in front of himself like Garnet.   
  
“Are we just going to… meditate?”   
  
Garnet shook her head. “No. I was just… thinking. I still am. You don’t have to do it with me.”   
  
“Oh.”   
  
Twoie unfolded his hands. “... What’re you thinking about?”   
  
“Your future.”   
  
Twoie sighed. “Yeah… I… I’m scared.”   
  
“I know you are. And I wish I could console you and tell you that you will still be you and you’ll still be alive but… I can’t. You travelling back is an enigma to me.”   
  
Twoie gulped, feeling anxiety well in his stomach. 

“... However, I can look into Steven’s future.”   
  
Twoie perked up.   
  
“And… it’s foggier the further I look, you know that.” Garnet said. “But I see him… happy.”   
  
Twoie smiled softly. “Really?”   
  
Garnet smiled. “Yes.”   
  
“But… why’re you telling me this?”   
  
“To comfort you. What’s most scary about travelling back is the uncertainty of what’s going to happen. I can’t tell you what you’ll experience, but I can tell you that Steven, most likely, is going to be just fine. And that means that you, most likely, are also going to be fine.”

Twoie nodded. “Thank you… I’m glad.”   


Twoie seemed to be off somewhere else mentally.

Garnet frowned.   
  
“... That didn’t help as much as I wanted it to.”   
  
“Yeah. But it’s okay.” Twoie gave her a reassuring smile. “It had to happen at some point.”   
  
Garnet nodded. “... Twoie, I… have some questions for you.”   
  
Twoie’s eyes widened. “You do? Uh, okay. Fire away.”   
  
“...Did I do a good job of protecting you?”   
  
Twoie bit his lip, looking away guiltily.

“Um. Yeah. You did your best.”   
  
“You’re lying to me…” Garnet sighed. 

“No! No! I’m… I’m no--”   
  
“Please, Twoie. Be honest. I want to know so I can protect Steven better than I did you.”

Twoie took in a deep breath and nodded. “Okay. Yeah. You… you did your best, but sometimes: it wasn’t good enough. And it wasn’t your fault- Homeworld was really strong. I’m sure you protected me from more than I realize. But… you also sometimes didn’t try to protect me at all. There was this enemy gem once… and she was very dangerous and  _ I  _ was very injured. But you uh… went off with the rest of the team to rescue people and left me to fight her and climb this  _ massive _ thing…”    
  
Twoie sighed. “I mean, granted, I  _ did _ tell you that I could do it on my own, and I  _ did _ … but in hindsight, I think it would’ve been better if I relied on you guys more.”   
  
Garnet nodded tensely. “... It’s important to be able to fend for yourself, too, Twoie.”

“I  _ know _ .” Twoie huffed. “But I’m a  _ kid _ . I’m  _ eighteen years old _ and you guys are  _ over 6,000 _ and made of pure light and power. For christ’s sake, you’re practically superheroes! And  _ I’m  _ supposed to tackle everything myself?”   
  
Garnet was taken aback, visor falling a bit down her face. She adjusted it and cleared her throat.   
  
“Have we been putting too much pressure on you? Should Steven be kept out of missions?”   
  
Twoie shrugged. “Maybe. Maybe not  _ all _ missions, but ones that you guys can handle yourselves: definitely.” He dragged a hand across his face and groaned. “Sorry, I shouldn’t have said that thing about tackling stuff myself-- I  _ have _ do it, y’know?”   
  
“No.”   
  
Twoie blinked. “But you know what I mean, right?”   
  
Garnet shook her head.   
  
“...” Twoie chewed on the inside of his cheek. “Well… what I mean is: for the future to turn out well, Steven… Steven is-- um--”    
  
Twoie put his head in his hands. “I don’t want to talk about it.”   
  
Garnet adjusted her visor and nodded. “I understand. But I don’t believe Steven has to face all those challenges alone.”   
  
Twoie furrowed his brows. “How’d you--”   
  
“You explained it to me in another timeline. I looked at it and heard your explanation already.”   
  
Twoie chuckled. “Dang, alright. Uh-- I guess not.”   
  
Garnet stood and held out a hand for Twoie. Twoie took it and Garnet pulled him into a hug.   
  
“We will protect him, Twoie. We will protect  _ you.  _ He doesn’t have to face this alone, and I promise that I will do my best to make sure he is safe.”   
  
“You will?”   
  
“Yes. I love you both so much.” Garnet held him tighter. “I never want anything bad happening to you.”

Twoie chuckled weakly. “Bit late.”   
  
“Not yet it isn’t. There’s still time.”

Twoie hugged back.

They stood there for a while, embracing each other, until Garnet pulled away.   
  
“It’s time.”

She exited the room. 

Twoie sighed and exited, too. 

Everyone was waiting in the living room, somber looks on their faces. Steven held a paper in his hand. 

“Here.” Pearl handed Twoie the glass. Twoie sighed and nodded. “Okay. Yeah. Um.”   
  
He looked down at it, hands shaking.   
  
“I guess it’s time.”   
  
“Wait.”   
  
Twoie looked over at Steven. Steven walked up and extended a card to Twoie.   
  
“I- it’s for you. To take with you…”   
  
Twoie took it and opened the card, reading it in his head.   
  
_ Dear Twoie. _

_ Thank you so much for being here for me. Even if I really wish this never happened so I didn’t have to say goodbye to you, I'm glad you’re here and I met you. You made every day better just by being here and I love you so much. And I know you love me, too. So since I’m you, I want you to love yourself and take care of yourself as much as you’ve taken care of me.  _

_ _

_ I’m going to miss you :( _

_ \- Steven  ❤️ _

“S-sorry.” Steven said, wiping his eyes. “There’s some tears on it. I was crying.”

Twoie’s felt his heart swell in his chest and he sobbed, covering his mouth with his hand to stifle himself.   
  
“It’s amazing, t-thank you.”   
  
He put it in his pocket and kneeled down, pulling Steven into a hug. Steven melted into it immediately and felt the dam break. He was sobbing, too, the hardest he had ever sobbed in his life. How could he not? He was about to lose a brother.

The gems all looked away from the sight. Pearl held back tears and fully turned away from them. Amethyst glanced away and crossed her arms, curling up and making herself smaller.

Garnet looked down at the floor, lips pressed into a fine line as her visor shone.

“Please don’t go.” Steven begged, though he knew it was useless.    


“I don’t want to. I promise-- I don’t want to.”   
  
“I don’t wan-want you to, e-either.”

Twoie pulled back and wiped away Steven’s tears shakily.    
  
“I know. This-- this is hard. It’s hard to say goodbye. But…”   
  
Twoie thought for a moment, the anxiety clear in his eyes. He perked up a bit and tried to give Steven a good smile. Steven could tell it was forced.

“We’ll see eachother again someday.”   
  
Steven shook his head. “N-no we won’t…”   
  
“Yes, we will.” Twoie held Steven’s hands tight in his own, squeezing them. “In four years, you’ll see me. Because you- you’ll  _ be _ me. And every day from here out, you’ll have me. Somewhere here--”   
  
He touched Steven’s chest, right over his heart.   
  
“I’ll be there. And one day you’ll see me again in the mirror and… and we’ll be happy.”   
  
Steven squeezed Twoie’s hands tight, steading himself.   
  
“And even if we aren’t.” Twoie continued. “I know that one day we will. And I’ll be  _ so  _ proud of you.”   
  
Steven hugged Twoie again, nodding. All his words were caught in his throat. He couldn’t express in words how much this hurt, how badly he wanted just one more day. All he could hope is that, in their hug, heart against heart, Twoie felt his compassion for him and how much he loved him. Twoie hoped the same.   


Twoie got up after a minute, taking up the time glass carefully and shutting his eyes.

“T-take me to my future.” He said. “Back to where I came from.”   
  
A blue portal opened behind him.   


The group stared at it, tense. Twoie shakily breathed out and stared into it.   


“I can’t do this...” Pearl murmured, turning away.   


Twoie took a heavy step forward. He felt a weight on his leg and looked down in surprise. Steven was hugging him and bawling into his leg. 

“Steven, dude!” Amethyst tried to pry him off. “I know it sucks but it’s gotta happen!”   
  
“No! No!” Steven wailed. “There has to be another way!! Garnet!”   
  
Garnet looked up from the floor.    
  
“Garnet, please--” Steven begged. “Please, there has to be another way-- he can stay a little longer, r-right? Please!”

Garnet bit her trembling lip and adjusted her visor, looking away.   
  
“Steven, stop!” Amethyst pulled him off of Twoie. “You’re making it worse!”   
  
Steven hugged her and sobbed into her. Twoie sighed. “Amethyst, he’s just a kid…”   
  
Amethyst softened and held him. “... Just go.” She sighed. “Get it over with.”   
  
Twoie looked at Amethyst, at Pearl, and at Steven. He felt emotion rise in his body and he looked towards Garnet despite himself.   
  
“Garnet,  _ is  _ there a way…?”

Garnet gulped, eyes searching for futures, for answers, behind her visor. She crossed her arms, gripping herself and slowly coming down to a conclusion.    
  
“... Maybe.”   
  
The team perked up, staring at her.   
  
“Maybe?” Pearl whispered.   
  
“...” Garnet sighed. “It’s more…  _ difficult _ with my future vision failing to predict the outcome of this timeline. So when I saw multiple futures where reality collapses, I assumed that that was the only way and didn’t want to take a risk. However, I… I’ve spent the entire day searching my future vision, rebuilding some pathways and looking down the narrowest futures… To see if there was  _ any _ way for Twoie to stay.”

“Is there?” Twoie asked anxiously.

“It’s as I said: maybe. There are futures where you stay for a longer time and there are little to no repercussions, these account for a good portion of possible outcomes, almost matching the possibilities of you staying destroying time. However… it’s not as if you destroying time would happen suddenly, it would be a slow build up I would notice. So, if we want to the take the risk of keeping Twoie here: we would also need to be ready to have him make an emergency departure as soon as needed.”

Steven tilted his head. “So… what you’re basically saying is: Twoie can stay as long as he can leave as soon as things go badly?”

Garnet nodded. “Yes. But we are a team and I want everyone here to make a decision on whether or not we want to take the risk. This is a  _ big  _ decision.”   
  
Steven raised his hand. “I’ll take it!”

Amethyst did too.   
  
Pearl looked at them both, then looked at Garnet. She rubbed her temples and thought for a moment before raising her hand. “Me, too.”   
  
Garnet glanced to Twoie.

“If time starts falling apart, you’ll let me know, right?” Twoie asked her. Garnet nodded.   
  
Twoie raised his hand.

Garnet let out a sigh of relief, raising her hand. “Thank the stars.”   
  
“So Twoie can- can stay!?” Steven asked.

“For now.”

Twoie beamed and shut down the portal, rushing to Steven and scooping him up in his arms in joy.

“So all of this was for nothing?” Pearl said, exasperated. 

“Yeah, I just cried a  _ lot _ , Garnet.” Amethyst said.   
  
Garnet blushed. “I might have panicked a little…”

Amethyst sighed and looked at Steven and Twoie, who were still hugging each other.

She smiled. “At least he’s still here.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> haha sike lol 
> 
> anyways leave a comment if you enjoyed!!! I love to hear ur thoughts :)


	30. Gem Hunt

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Steven, Connie, Pearl, and Twoie try to find a corrupted gem in the Great North... they find something else instead.

“We’re here!~” Pearl chimed as they warped into The Great North. It had been a little more than a week since Twoie’s almost goodbye, so things were steadily returning back to normal. And normal meant Connie’s first mission!

“Wow!” Connie gasped in awe, looking around at the snow covered landscape. “The Great North is so beautiful in person!”

“Wait, wait, stay right there!” Steven said, backing up and taking out his phone. He got Pearl, Connie, and Twoie in frame. 

“Alright, smile!~”   
  
Pearl smiled awkwardly and put her hand on Connie’s shoulder. Connie hoisted out her backpack straps with a determined grin, and Twoie waved and smiled sheepishly at the camera. 

Steven took the photo.

“Okay, now do one where it looks like you’re looking for a monster!”   
  
Twoie backed out of the photo. Pearl and Connie posed as if they were looking. Steven huffed at Twoie’s backing out, but there would be time for plenty of photos later.

He took the photo.

“Okay! Now one like you made a joke!”

_ Click! Snap! _

“Now do one where… the joke’s not that funny but it’s more like a joke that makes you  _ think _ .”

“O-kay, I think that’s  _ enough  _ photography.” Pearl said.

“But it’s Connie’s first mission!” Steven beamed. “Her parents asked me to take lots of pictures!”

“Uh…” 

“Thank you so much for letting me come on this mission, Pearl!” Connie bowed. “It’s such an honour to work alongside you.”

Pearl smiled proudly. “Well, Connie, your sword-fighting skills have  _ far _ exceeded my expectations. And, with my careful supervision, of course, I’m confident that you can handle a simple gem recovery mission like this.”

“Thank you so much! I  _ promise _ I won’t let you down, ma’am!”

Steven snapped a photo of the nice moment. He blushed and giggled. “Connie’s first mission!~”

They headed off.

“Re-cap the mission for us, Connie.” Pearl said. 

“Yes, ma’am!”

Connie started to explain the details of the mission. Steven got distracted looking around. He glanced up at Twoie, who was following along a bit shyly.   
  
Steven chuckled. “Twoie, there’s no reason to be shy. We  _ want _ you here.”   
  
“I know.” Twoie sighed. “I still feel like I’m intruding, though.”   
  
“You’re not!” Steven assured. “It’s fun to be with you!  _ And _ you’re good backup for a fight. Very strong.”   


Twoie blushed. “Aw, thanks. You too.”   
  
Steven smiled. 

“Steven, are you listening?” Pearl asked.   
  
Steven jolted to attention. “Um! Yes!”   
  
Pearl hummed. “Hmm.. good. I’d hope so. Because the monster could appear at any moment--”   
  
A loud roar sounded through the woods. 

Pearl put her body protectively in front of the kids. “Here it comes!”   


From the trees burst a corrupted blue and red gem, snarling and gnashing it’s maw at them. Twoie whimpered and backed up, muttering ‘Ocean’ under his breath. 

“Remember, you work together!” Pearl commanded. 

Steven summoned his shield, and Connie her sword.

“Ready, Connie?”

“Ready, Steven!”   
  
Another beast leapt out of the trees, snarling and barking at Ocean Jasper. Twoie’s eyes flashed in recognition. 

“Two of them!?” Pearl gasped, pulling out her spear.

Biggs and Ocean snarled and barked at each other before Biggs rushed towards them. 

“Steven, bubble!” Pearl shouted.

“Bubble power!” Steven shouted, as he summoned his bubble around them. Biggs ran towards them then leapt over the bubble, running off into the woods with Ocean going a different way.

Steven stared at where the beasts once were. “They… ran away?”   
  
Pearl frowned. “There weren’t supposed to be two.”

“Oh! Oh!” Connie raised her hand. “I have an idea! What if we split up? Twoie and you can go after one of them, and Steven and I can go after the other!”

“Connie, you  _ are  _ my pupil, so I know your combat skills are excellent. But, I’m afraid this is too risky. You’ve never been in a real fight before…”

“Well, that’s not true!” Steven said. “Connie defeated that gem experiment at the hospital!”   
  
“But--”

“And look!” Steven held out a Cookie Cat walkie-talkie. “I brought these walkie-talkies so we can talk to each other in case something happens!”

“But--!”   


“ _ And _ ” Connie chirped, pulling out a survival book titled: “ _ How to Survive: The Punishment of Nature”. _ “I’ve read this book front to back at  _ least _ 20 times!” 

Pearl stared at them. Steven and Connie stared, hopefully, back.

Pearl sighed. “Well, alright. But as soon as you find the monster, contact me  _ immediately _ . I don’t want you fighting this thing alone! In fact--” She turned to Twoie. “Twoie will accompany you, just in case.”   
  
“What!?” Steven protested. “What about  _ you??  _ Three vs one is not an even split!”   
  
“Yes, but we aren’t equal in power.” Pearl said. 

“I remember something bad happening here.” Twoie said. “I don’t know what it is or how bad it is, but I remember  _ something _ . So maybe I  _ should _ go with you two.”   
  
Pearl nodded. “There we are. Now, one more time: what are you looking for?”

“A monster!” Steven and Connie said in unison. 

Pearl glanced at Twoie.

Twoie glanced at her. “... What?”   
  
“What are you looking for, Twoie?”   
  
Twoie was surprised and chuckled. “Oh! Uh-- a corrupted gem!”   
  
“Correct. Now, all of you, what do you do when you find it?”   
  
“Call you.” Connie, Twoie, and Steven all said.

“And who’s your favourite gem?~” Pearl smirked.   
  
“Pearl!” Steven chided. 

“Amethyst.” Deadpanned Twoie.

Pearl stared at Twoie.

Twoie laughed. “I’m joking, Pearl.”   
  
Pearl scoffed. “You rascal. Alright, you three be safe.”   
  
“Yes, Ma’am!” Steven and Connie said, saluting her. Twoie just gave a thumbs up. They went their separate ways, Pearl down the left of the fork in the trees, and the rest down the right.

The snow had been imprinted with a trail of monster footprints, twice the size of Steven’s feet, with claws. It seemed pretty straightforward, which Steven considered good. 

Connie kneeled down to a footprint, narrowing her eyes at it and picking up some snow.

“All we have to do is follow these tracks.”    
  
She ate some of the snow. Twoie cringed.

“Yeah, these are fresh.” Connie concluded, then got up. “We trail it until it stops to rest.”

“Wow, Connie, you're a wilderness expert!” Steven smiled. 

“Yeah, but please don’t eat snow.” Twoie said. “You could get sick. You don’t know what’s in it.”   
  
“Yes, sir…”   
  
“S-” Twoie sputtered. “Sir?? Don’t-- don’t call me sir. I know you call Pearl ma’am but I’m not…”   
  
“Oh, okay.” Connie nodded. “Sorry, Twoie.”   
  
“It’s alright.” He smiled, patting her head. Connie giggled. “... What am I like in the future, Twoie?”   
  
“Really nice.” Twoie smiled warmly. “And smart. And amazing. The best sword fighter ever.”   
  
Connie’s eyes sparkled. “Whoa…”   
  
The walkie-talkie beeped in Steven’s back pocket. Steven got it out. 

“How are you three doing? Are you hungry? Remember: you humans need to eat!”

“Yes, ma’am!” Steven and Connie said. 

“Luckily, I packed plenty of survival fuel.” Connie said, taking out a protein bar. “Time to get our protein on!” 

Steven and Twoie took one each, chomping into it. Connie ate hers, too.

They kept following the trail.    
  
“Good thing this snow is here.” Connie said. “Makes following tracks a  _ lot _ easier.”   


“I’ll say!” Steven said. 

They began to trek through the snow, the cold biting at their skin. Steven shivered, hoisting his scarf in front of his face. The snow came down harder.

Connie looked up ahead into the foggy distance, pondering. “So, these corrupted gems are like wild animals… just a bundle of fight or flight reflexes and survival instincts…”

“Well, they’re like that now, but before they were different. They used to be normal gems like Pearl, Amethyst, and Garnet. They had thoughts, feelings, friends… I don’t really know how the corruption works. It’s like they’re sick: they don’t remember who they used to be. Maybe they don’t even know how to look like themselves anymore…”

Connie looked over to him in concern. “Whoa… are you okay?”   
  
“I guess.” Steven shrugged. “It just… bugs me.”   
  
He turned back to Twoie. “Twoie, what does corruption… feel like?”   
  
Twoie froze, eyes wide. He stared at Steven. “... What?”   
  
“I said: What does corruption feel like? You’d know, right?”   
  
Twoie’s cheeks glowed dimly. “Um…”

“Because you’ve spoken to the gems after they were healed, right…?” Steven leaded. What was Twoie so surprised about?

Twoie jolted and then laughed. “Oh! Oh! Yes! I… yes, I did talk to them. Um.” He chuckled nervously and gulped, pink dying down a bit. “It… it’s… um…”

His expression hardened, and he thought, staring down at the snow. He grit his teeth and frowned deeply, shuddering.    
  
“Twoie?” Connie asked. 

Twoie’s cheeks lit up pink and his eyes flashed pink for a moment before he snapped out of it. “I… don’t want to talk about corruption.”   
  
“Oh.” Steven frowned. “Are you okay?”   
  
“Yeah, yeah, i’m fine.” Twoie said, rushed. “Um, why don’t I show you kids how to shield surf?”

“Shield surf!?” Connie gasped. Twoie nodded, walking past them to the edge of the hill they were on. He summoned his shield and placed it on the ground.   
  
“See, you put your shield down, then you put your foot into the shield-- Steven, you listening?”   
  
“What? Oh. Yeah.” Steven nodded, summoning his shield too. 

“Okay, so, foot in… then… other foot up…” Twoie said. “Then slam down and GO!”   
  
He slammed his other foot down onto the rim and tipped it so he slid down the hill quickly, swerving the shield side to side and skidding to an impressive finish at the bottom of the hill.

“This will make travel much faster!” He called up. “Try it! Both of you!”   
  
“Both of us?” Connie furrowed her brows. She looked at Steven then grinned.   


Steven smiled, knowing exactly what she was thinking.

They joined hands and then Stevonnie hopped onto their shield, sliding down somewhat gracefully then falling off at the bottom and face planting. 

“Oh, good job!” Twoie said. Stevonnie stood and they high-fived. “Thanks, Twoie!”

Twoie gave Stevonnie a once over and hummed. “Huh. It’s weird seeing Stevonnie when I’m not them.”

“Yeah, I guess it is kinda weird.” Stevonnie said. “But let’s keep going!”   
  
“On it!” Twoie said, following behind.

The walkie-talkie beeped. 

“Steven? Connie? Twoie? I’m not having any luck finding this monster. We might have to return to the temple and regroup.

“No! No! We can handle it!” Stevonnie said. “I’m confident that we can do this and find that monster!”

“Wha… Stevonnie, is that you?”   
  
“Yes?”   
  
“Why did you two fuse?”   
  
“For fun! Twoie taught us how to shield surf.”   
  
“He taught you  _ what _ !?”   
  
Stevonnie chuckled. “Don't worry, I’m fine! Please, Pearl, let us keep going.”   
  
“Uh, Well, you sound confident… carry on then, and remember Connie:”   
  
“Stance wide, body lowered.” Stevonnie answered, more Connie. “I got it, ma’am.”   
  
“ _ Balance is the key~!”  _ Pearl sang, then hung up. 

Stevonnie chuckled and pocketed their walkie talkie before continuing to trek in the snow. Twoie kept looking at them, but they didn't mind. Stevonnie figured they'd do the same if they were in Twoie's position. 

They didn’t get far before they saw something strange. In front of them were many broken logs and bent trees, human and animal-like footprints littering the ground.

“Whoa…” Stevonnie gasped. “What a mess…”   
  
Twoie furrowed his brows. “Huh…”   
  
Stevonnie looked around at the prints, leaning down and touching one gently. They glanced up at the snow, still pouring down. Wouldn't the snow have covered this by now? Maybe they were fresh... or... “Was Pearl here? No, no, she went the other way… What could this mean?”   
  
Twoie glanced at Stevonnie, then looked warily over to the humanoid footprints. He put his foot beside one then gasped in alarm.   
  
“Jasper!”   
  
“What!?” Stevonnie gasped. “Jasper’s here?”   
  
“Yes! We have to run! Now!”   


Twoie grabbed Stevonnie's wrist and pulled them up, sprinting away from the littered clearing. Stevonnie panted, quickly pulling out their walkie-talkie.   
  
“Pearl! Twoie thinks Jasper’s here!”   
  
“Jasper!?" Pearl asked in horror. "Oh my stars, you kids get out of there! Now!”   
  
“That’s what we’re doing!”   
  
“Did she see you?”   
  
Stevonnie glanced around quickly, stumbling a bit. "Ah- No, no, she’s not--”

Jasper burst from the woods in front of them, riding a bucking Ocean Jasper like a bull. Twoie screamed and skidded to a halt, falling back into Stevonnie who caught him. Ocean screamed out in fear, kicking wildly to throw off Jasper. Jasper gripped her horns and planted her feet into her neck, then slammed her helmet into the gems head. Ocean Jasper whined and poofed on impact.   
  
Jasper dropped to the ground, picking up Ocean’s gem, already holding Biggs. Twoie squeaked in fear.   
  
Jasper looked up at Stevonnie and Twoie, scanning the both of them. Her eyes went to Twoie's gem.   
  
“Hey, Rose. I like the new look.” She teased.    
  
Twoie backed up a bit, eyes wide.   
  
Jasper scoffed. “Pathetic.”   
  
She lifted the gems and waved them a bit, taunting.   
  
“Look what I got~”   
  
“Leave him alone!” Stevonnie growled, drawing their sword and shield. 

Jasper raised an eyebrow, looking down at Stevonnie’s gem, then back up at them. Then at Twoie.

She shrugged and walked off.

Twoie gulped and held onto Stevonnie, shaking a little. Stevonnie looked over at him and held him back. “It’s okay. She… um…”   
  
Stevonnie frowned. “Should we go after her?”

Twoie looked in her direction. “... We can try.”   
  
Stevonnie nodded and started stalking in Jasper’s direction before Pearl landed in front of them, spear drawn.   
  
“Where is she!?”   
  
Stevonnie jumped. “Ah! Pearl! Oh, she… she went that way. But I don’t know if we can get her.”    
  
Pearl looked where Stevonnie was pointing and frowned. “Hm… what happened? Did she hurt you?”   
  
“No, she just called Twoie Mo-- Ste-- uh… Rose, _Steven’s mom._ And then… held up the two corrupted gems and said ‘look what I got’ then left.”

Pearl bit her lip. “Well, I don’t think we should go after her. It’s too dangerous. I’m  _ so _ glad you’re okay, though, Stevonnie.” She hugged them. “I never would have let you come on this mission if I knew Jasper would be here!”   
  
Stevonnie frowned and shut their eyes. “I…”   
  
Stevonnie split evenly. Connie looked up at Pearl.

“I’m sorry.”   
  
“What?” Pearl’s eyes widened.

“I thought I’d be ready to fight, but I wasn’t! I failed.”   
  
“You weren’t supposed to fight. You were supposed to call me and you  _ did.  _ Well, both of you did.” Pearl smiled at Steven. Steven smiled back. She turned back to Connie. “This was a  _ total _ success.” 

“Connie’s first mission!” Steven cheered, trying to lighten the mood.

“Connie’s first mission!” Pearl beamed, playing along.

Steven got out his phone. “Group picture!”   
  
He hugged Connie to his side and ushered Pearl into the picture. He looked over at Twoie.    
  
“That means you, too!”   
  
Twoie smiled lopsidedly and came over, kneeling down and putting bunny ears behind Steven.   
  
“Hey! I can see you!”

Twoie smirked. “I know.”   
  
Connie put bunny ears behind Steven too.   
  
“Connie, not you too!”   
  
Pearl did it as well.   
  
“No!!!” 

They all laughed and Steven took the picture.

**\----**

It was about 11 o’clock at night, and Steven awoke to the sound of TV static. He groaned and squinted at the TV, stewing in tired annoyance for a bit before actually getting up and stretching out. What shows were on this late, seriously? He grasped around for the remote, not really opening his eyes yet.

The TV flickered and switched to an image of Jasper. Steven did a double take.

“Jasper…?”

Jasper was crawling towards the TV screen, green corruption spots inching up her arm, spawning spikes on her skin. Steven gasped softly.    
  
It cut to static again.

An image of Jasper scratching a person flashed across the screen.

Steven squinted, was that…?

Static.

Twoie, covered in dirt and hair a mess, threw a hexagonal pink shield at a green, horned, Jasper who punched them out of existence.

Static.   
  
Twoie was floating in the air, buffer and pinker than usual. His hair was wild, he had stubble, and his eyes were hot pink diamonds, burning into Steven's own.

“You’re right, Jasper.” Twoie growled menacingly, a maniacal look in his eyes.

“ _ I have been holding back _ .”   
  
He raised up his arms and cast them down, throwing a giant wall of spikes down at a _terrified_ Jasper. 

_ Click. _

The TV shut off. Steven could hear Twoie panting on the couch.

Steven was shaking.   
  
He stared down at Twoie, who was now standing and clutching his heart. There was a dull pink glow on the floor. The colour made Steven wince.  
  
Steven gulped and tiptoed downstairs after a few moments of gathering up his courage. Twoie didn't seem to notice Steven standing right behind him, so Steven cleared his throat. 

"A-hem."

Twoie yelped and turned, staring at Steven. “... Steven. Wh- what are you doing up?”

“I uh… I just woke up.”   
  
“Oh.” Twoie nodded slowly. “Right…” 

His pink cheeks died down just a bit and he looked off into space, mind clearly occupied.   
  
Steven gulped, twiddling his thumbs. “So… uh… I saw something weird on the TV.”   
  
Twoie stiffened.   
  
“... I saw you. I saw Jasper.”   
  
Twoie glanced at him from over his shoulder, unblinking.   
  
Steven bit his lip, feeling himself sweat under his gaze. “... Um. W-was that real? Did that happen?”   


Twoie didn’t respond. 

“... Y’know… the… uh…” Steven gulped. “You… uh… being all pink and buff… and then… hurting Jasper? I mean, maybe you didn’t hurt her-- I-- I just saw you raise up your arms and then she looked scared, so I--”   
  
“Go to bed.”   
  
Steven froze. “Huh?”   
  
“Go to bed.” Twoie ordered through gritted teeth. 

“... W-why?”   
  
“It’s late.” He said.  


Twoie started walking towards the warp, his pink spreading from his cheeks with every step.

“W-wait, you’re going pink!” Steven cried out, following him. “Let me help you!”   
  
“ _ Go. to.  _ **_bed_ ** _. _ ” Twoie repeated, stepping onto the warp.   
  
“Stop hiding your feelings!” Steven begged. “You-- you need to talk them out and--”   
  


The room shook, t he floor broke and cracked, nails scattering. The warp itself had some surface damage. His eyes were Diamonds again, piercing Steven’s own. Twoie was fully pink.

Steven looked up at him fearfully.

Twoie’s furious stare went away. He looked around at his damage and then grimaced in horror. His sclera turned black, the diamonds the only thing left.   
  
Steven gasped. “Twoie, your eyes--”   
  
Twoie jolted, staring at him.

“... I’m sorry, Steven.” He said hoarsely. “... We’ll talk in the morning. Please, go to bed.”

He warped away.

Steven did as he was told and went to bed, but not before draping a blanket over the TV.

They didn’t talk in the morning.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> leave a comment if u enjoyed!


	31. Beta

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Twoie, Steven, Peridot, and Amethyst go to the Beta Kindergarten.

“So, why are we doing this again?” Amethyst asked.   
  
“Becauuuseeee you kinda need a break from obsessing over Jasper, and I should introduce Twoie to Lapis and Peridot!”   
  
“I already know them, Steven.” Twoie said.

“I know, but not in the past!”   
  
“We already met, Steven. How do you think Bismuth got here?”   
  
Steven frowned. “So you don’t wanna come?”   
  
Twoie thought for a moment then shook his head. “Nah, I’m good.”

“Good.” Steven smiled, looking at Amethyst. “Besides, visiting Peridot, Lapis, and Bismuth will be so much fun!”

“Yeah, ‘cause when I think ‘fun’, I think ‘Lapis’.” Amethyst rolled her eyes. 

“I wonder what they’re up to.” Steven said.

“Maybe they drove each other crazy and burnt the barn down.”

“Whoa…” Steven gasped, stopping. “They sure did something to the barn…”   
  
The barn was completely transformed. There was junk everywhere, the silo was in the side of the barn, there was a tent with a Camp Pining Hearts flag to the right of it, and on the front was the back of a pick up truck, lodged into the barn with Peridot, Lapis, and Bismuth sitting in it, watching TV. 

Peridot and Lapis said something to each other, then Bismuth chuckled and nodded. 

“Hey, guys!” Steven called up from below. 

Lapis beamed and flew down. “Steven! It’s so good to see you again!”   
  
She looked up at Twoie and frowned.

“And… you.”   
  
Twoie waved.   
  
Lapis hummed in indifference and kneeled down to Steven. “What brings you--”   
  
Peridot burst from the barn. “Amethyst!”   
  
Bismuth did as well. “Steven! Amethyst! Nice to see you guys!”   


“Uh- hey!” Steven waved. 

“Yo.” Amethyst said.

“Amethyst!” Peridot smiled. “Something looks… different about you.”   
  
Amethyst frowned. “Like what…?”

“Have you grown  _ taller  _ since the last time I saw you?”   
  
Amethyst sighed. “Nope, still short.”   
  
Peridot laughed, finding the joke so funny she teared up.

“You’re welcome!!!” Peridot wiped an eye. “For the joke.”   


“Wow, you guys are lookin’ good!” Steven said. “I love what you did to the barn!”

“Thanks!” Peridot beamed. “We had a lot of help from Bismuth.”   
  
Bismuth blushed. “Aw, you guys…”   
  
“But you have to see the inside!” Peridot said. “Lapis, fly us in!”   
  
Lapis glanced down at her.

“... No.”

Peridot huffed and walked inside, leading everyone else in.   
  
“Welcome to our home away from homeworld!”   


Steven gasped, running over to a wall with glass in it, looking inside the silo which was filled with water and fish. It was sealed neatly.

“Wow! You made the wall an aquarium!”

The plush Peridot won at the boardwalk floated by. Steven winced.

“You did all this stuff on  _ purpose _ ?” Amethyst asked, nudging a vacuum cleaner with flowers in it. “Like, you didn’t just knock over a bunch of paint cans and go: ‘eh, just leave it.’?”

“Oh, no! This was all very intentional!” Peridot chirped. “You see, I had this idea: ‘What if we made music, but instead of sounds, we used things?’”

“That’s dumb.” Amethyst said.

“Amethyst, don’t be rude.” Twoie huffed. Amethyst stuck her tongue out at him.

“That’s art!” Steven chirped.

“Art?” questioned Peridot. “That sounds ridiculous!”

“I’ve been calling it ‘Meep Morp’.” Lapis deadpanned.

“Let us show you our Morps!” 

Peridot walked over to her broken tape recorder with a blue ribbon. “This ones called: Wow, Thanks! It represents the struggles of intercommunication. The tape is the ribbon that binds our experience on Earth together. It has no functional purpose! It just makes me  _ feel bad!” _

“Here’s my Meep Morp.” Lapis said, gesturing to a baseball bat, a baseball, and a baseball glove hanging from a pole. “This is a baseball bat: it reminds me of the time when I played baseball.” She moved over to a pot with dirt in it, with a leaf sticking out. “This is the leaf Steven gave me. It reminds me of the time… Steven gave me a leaf.”   
  
“It reminds me of that, too!” Steven beamed. “Uh, Bismuth, what about your Morps?”   
  
“Oh! I’m not that good at it.” Bismuth chuckled. “But I did make  _ some  _ stuff! Come here!”   
  
She walked to the back of the barn, pushing aside a curtain. They followed her into a nicely constructed extra room. On one wall was a bunch of weapons. On the opposite side were some Morps. 

“This is my room! Sometimes, the barn’s a bit too messy for me, so I stay here.” Bismuth explained. “I go to the forge sometimes to make weapons, still.”   
  
“And they’re mostly metal!” Peridot beamed, levitating a sword. 

“Whoa, there! Be careful!” Bismuth said. 

Peridot frowned. “Ugh, right. I’ll practice later.”    
  
She put the sword back. It fell out of it’s holster and clattered to the ground. Bismuth winced then walked over a flower pot with a budding flower in it. On the flower pot was a heart.

“This is uh… one of my Morps! It represents me and my struggle to… be a kinder, better person. I’ve done a lot of… bad stuff. And I feel bad about it. And it feels like sometimes I can’t forgive myself. But I know I’m growing and changing… just like this flower.”

She glanced up at Twoie. Twoie glanced down at the Morp and then smiled a little.

Bismuth smiled back.

“That’s kinda depressing.” Amethyst said. Twoie gasped. “Amethyst!”

“What!? This is-- this is  _ nothing! _ They’ve been out here playing with  _ garbage _ !”   
  
“But don’t you love playing with garbage?” Steven asked. 

“Not anymore! Who has time for any of that when **_Jasper_** is out there!”  
  
A silence fell over the group.

“Uh, Amethyst…” Peridot gulped. “I’m sorry you’re not… impressed… um… can you please try not to use the J-word?”

Lapis rolled her eyes. Bismuth glared down sternly at Amethyst. “Yeah, Amethyst.”   
  
Amethyst blushed and scoffed. “Whatever. I’m gonna go do something useful.”

She left.

Twoie growled under his breath. “Ugh. I’m sorry about her, guys, I think your Morps are great. I’m very impressed, Peridot.”   
  
Peridot smiled. “Really??”   
  
“Yeah.” Twoie smiled. “I love it.”

“Do you wanna try making a Morp, Twoie?” Bismuth asked, setting a hand on his shoulder. Twoie winced and Bismuth took it off. Twoie chuckled weakly. “Sorry. Uh- I’d love to make a Morp, Bismuth. Steven, do you wanna make a Morp?”   


Steven frowned. “No… I’m gonna go talk to Amethyst…”   
  
“What’s her deal, anyway?” Lapis asked. 

“Well… she found out that she’s supposed to be just like Jasper.”   


Peridot quirked an eyebrow. “Huh?” 

“Jasper took her down in a fight, and now, she’s obsessed with getting a rematch. To prove she’s good enough…”

“Hm.” Peridot thought. “... I’m gonna go talk to her.”   
  
Steven nodded, leaving with her. Twoie sighed and followed their lead. Amethyst was whipping paint cans outside.

“Amethyst! Ams, Big A!” Peridot greeted, grabbing her arm to stop her from whipping. “ _ You _ are  _ way _ better than Jasper.”

“What?” Amethyst grimaced. She looked to Steven. “Oh… What did you tell her?”

“Um…” Steven chuckled nervously.

“What are you even doing comparing yourself to her? Oh, Amethyst, that’s ridiculous!” jested Peridot. “I should call you Ridiculous-thyst!” 

She twirled her finger at a can. It wobbled a little. Peridot groaned and kicked it, then picked it up with her ferrokinesis. “I mean, seriously, Amethyst and Jasper are two  _ completely _ different Quartzes! Sure, you’re both from Earth, but your Kindergartens are  _ radically _ different.”

Steven sputtered. “H-hold on, what?!”

“We’re both from Earth?” Amethyst asked. 

“Well, sure!” Amethyst is from Prime Kindergarten., and Jasper is from the Beta Kindergarten! Have you  _ seen _ that place?”   
  
“No!” Amethyst exclaimed excitedly.

“Oh, well, maybe you should. So you can see how the  _ other half _ was made. Poorly!” She laughed. “No, seriously, let’s go. You’ll get a kick outta this.”

After a brief exchange with Lapis, they headed off. Twoie accompanied them, saying that something bad was going to happen so he wanted to protect them. Steven wondered if they should just stay, but Amethyst didn’t wait around and just warped off with Peridot. Twoie and Steven caught up.

Steven squinted, looking around the bright orange and red landscape. “Am I underwhelmed? It’s really bright out here.”   
  
Twoie shrugged. “Well, yeah, it’s in the desert.”   
  
“Twoie! Steven!” Peridot smiled. “Just in time! Come on! If you thought  _ this _ was bad, it gets worse!”   


They followed along. As they followed Peridot, she explained with light humour that the Beta Kindergarten was a rush job, a mess made out of desperation for more soldiers in the war. They passed by a broken injector, and Steven stopped to inspect it.

“What happened to this injector?” He wondered aloud. Twoie stopped and stared at it, too, shaking a little. “It got broken, obv-obviously.”

“Are… you okay?” Steven asked.   
  
Twoie shook his head. “No, but I’ll be fine.”   
  
“Whoa, whoa… no, if something’s wrong...”   
  
“I’ll be fine, Steven.” Twoie hissed. “I-- ugh-- I need to do this.”   
  
“Need to do what?”   
  
“Don’t worry about--”   
  
“HEY, GUYS!” Steven called to the group.

“Keep your voice down!!” Twoie hissed urgently. 

“YEAH!?” Peridot called back, walking over. Amethyst followed.

“We need to take a break. Something’s freaking out Twoie.”   
  
“Dude!” Twoie whined. “I’m fine! Let’s just get this over with!”   
  
“No, you’re taking a break.” Steven crossed his arms. “And that’s final.”   
  
Twoie groaned and walked to a cave, sitting down in it and shutting his eyes. “Fine.” 

“Could the sandstone be injuring his vision spheres?” Peridot asked Steven.

“No… I-” Steven sighed. “I think something bad might happen here, so he’s preparing for that. I really think we should just leave…”   
  
“No, I need to see this.” Amethyst said. “Whatever he’s dealing with, he can just deal with.” She glanced over at him. “...” She sighed. “But, like, what’s up with him lately?”   
  
Peridot walked over to Twoie, hoping to cheer him up.

Steven sighed and sat down against the injector. “Well… a few nights ago, I woke up and saw something strange on the TV… I saw… um… Jasper. And Twoie.”   
  
Amethyst’s eyes widened. “What?”   
  
“I know! I… I think it was his  _ dreams _ , like, projecting onto the TV.”   
  
“Freaky.”   
  
“But that’s not the scary part!” Steven said. “He…” He gulped. “On the TV, I saw him and Jasper fighting. Then he… he was all pink and buff and scary… his eyes were  _ diamonds _ \--”   
  
Amethyst’s eyes blew wide.

“-- and he rose up from the ground and… and said something like: ‘You’re right, Jasper… I have been holding back!’ and then he… he launched something at her and she looked…  _ scared _ .”   
  
“ _ Scared _ ?” Amethyst gulped. “ **_Jasper_ ** was  _ scared _ ?”   
  
“Terrified.” Steven said, gripping his shirt. “And when I asked him about it, he snapped and screamed at me to go to bed. He went pink and broke the floor again. And the warp.”   
  
Amethyst frowned. “So that’s why the floor was janked up…”   
  
“Yeah.” Steven sighed. “I guess I’m a little worried about him. He’s obviously keeping something from us, but he keeps telling  _ me _ to tell everyone everything.” He put his knees to his chest. “I don’t know what to do.”

Amethyst sat in silence, brushing up some sand with her fingertips idly as she thought. Steven stared down at the bright orange and red landscape. It only reminded him of--

His eyes widened. “Wait. I think…” He looked around. “I think… something bad happens  _ to Jasper _ today.”   
  
“Like what? Will-- is Twoie gonna hurt her like in the dream?”   
  
“No, no, he looked older then. Somehow.” Steven frowned. “Um. I think she’s going to--”   
  
“Hey, everyone!” Peridot chirped. “Twoie’s feeling fine now!”   
  
Twoie gave a thumbs up, obviously still tense.

Amethyst stared at him and nodded slowly. “O… kay. Let’s keep going…?”   
  
“Yes.” Twoie said, marching ahead. “Please.”

Steven gulped and got up. Jasper was going to corrupt. He needed to talk to Twoie about it, but if Twoie got mad again, that wouldn’t be good.

“Anyways, as I was saying…” Peridot walked ahead. “All of these holes are horribly made! What you wanna see is a clear, strong, silhouette. None of them even come close!”   
  
Amethyst glanced to the side. “What about that one?”   
  
Steven looked up and gasped. In the wall was a large silhouette of a Jasper, arms flexed out, with glass all the way to the back. 

“Jasper.” Peridot whispered.

“ _ This _ is Jasper’s hole?” Steven gasped.   
  
“It's huge!” Amethyst said.

“Oh, come on. We already know she’s  _ tall _ .” Peridot sneered, walking up to it. Twoie came over and helped her up. Peridot huffed out a ‘Wow, Thanks.’ and started to examine the hole. Everytime she tried to find a flaw, there was none in sight. Jasper was the  _ perfect  _ Quartz.

“Ugh.” Amethyst groaned. “So it  _ is  _ true…”   
  
“Amethyst, that doesn’t matter!” Steven said. “Who you are isn’t about where you came from; it’s who you wanna be! It’s what you’ve worked hard for. It’s what you care about.  _ That’s _ what really matters.”

Amethyst slowly smiled. “Yeah… Yeah, you’re right!”   
  
“Yeah!” Steven and Peridot cheered. 

“It’s about who I wanna be!”

“Yeah!”

“And I wanna be the gem that beats  _ Jasper  _ into the  _ DIRT _ !”   
  
“Yeah!” Peridot cheered. “Huh?” Steven frowned.

“Wait, no! Don't fight her! Are you not seeing this!? She’s the  _ ultimate  _ Quartz!” Peridot pleaded.

“Yeah? Well, I know she’s not  _ invincible _ !” Amethyst grinned. “I can beat her! I can do it! And I’m gonna do it for all the weird holes out there! Like this guy, and skinny up there, and-- and this mess!”

She gestured to a cave.

Peridot frowned. “Amethyst, that’s…” 

“Yeah, I bet she was great!”

“No, no…” Peridot walked over, tracing a finger along the side of the cave. “These marks are new… this hole’s been dug out… recently.”

Twoie groaned nervously.

“Uh, maybe it was a prairie dog?” Steven asked. Peridot glared at him. “... a really big one?” He added.

“Hmm.” Peridot frowned, walking past him. She came to an opening and gasped. “There’s more!”   
  
Along the walls were many, many, caves with metal bars in front of them.

“These aren’t exit holes anymore…” Peridot said.

“Then what are they?” Steven asked, walking over to one.

“Steven!” Twoie called, yanking him away as a giant claw erupted from the cell, barely missing Steven. The cells erupted in growling and snarling, filled with corrupted gems.

“Is this what’s wrong here!?” Amethyst yelped. “Twoie, you knew about this!?”   
  
“Kinda, yeah!” Twoie whined. “Oh, man, t-t-this sucks.”

“Who would do this!?” Peridot asked in horror.   
  
“Her.” Twoie whispered, looking off in front of them. Steven followed his gaze, and as the dust cleared, he saw her. 

**Jasper.**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ooooo cliffhanger!!!!! I didn't plan on a cliffhanger but here we are!!!!!
> 
> leave a comment if u enjoyed!


	32. Earthlings

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Twoie and Amethyst throw themselves into a fight with Jasper. Steven has a grim realization.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> tw// blood, emeto mention, violence and stuff

“Jasper.” Amethyst snarled.

“What is she doing…?” Peridot gulped.

“She’s been collecting monsters.” Steven concluded, staring up at the cages.

“Poor Ocean…” Twoie whined.

Ocean snarled in her cage. 

“Pipe down!” Jasper ordered, kicking the bars. “You take orders from me now! You used to be a Quartz, too, didn’t you? What happened to you?”

Ocean lashed out, gnawing at the bars. Jasper only sneered. “Ugh. Disgraceful. I can’t believe I’ve resorted to recruiting you  _ freaks _ .”

Twoie grit his teeth, cheeks turning pink. Steven gasped and held his hand. “Twoie, calm down.”

Twoie snarled.

“Just look at you.” Jasper continued. “This planet ruins everything. Well,” She laughed. “Except for me.”

“We should go back to the temple and grab reinforcements.” Peridot stated.

“Yeah, that’s a good idea.” Steven agreed. “Amethyst?”

He turned to her. She was gone. Peridot and Steven gasped in horror. Twoie looked down at her empty spot and facepalmed. “Shit, I forgot about that.”

“Amethyst!” Steven whisper-called, looking around for her frantically. He spotted her climbing up on one of the sandstone edges towards Jasper.

“I’ll never let this planet twist me like it twisted you.” Jasper bragged. “Your weakness embarrasses Homeworld. You suffer because it’s what you  _ deserve _ .”

Twoie’s whole face went pink.

“We all only get what we deserve…”

She smirked.

“Right,  **_Amethyst?”_ **

Amethyst yelped and stumbled back in surprise, falling from her ledge. She landed on the ground and quickly scrambled up as Jasper turned to face her.

“What do you want, runt? You here for a rematch?”

“I’m here to win!” Amethyst roared. 

“ _You_ were fated to lose the moment you came out wrong.”

**_“YOU’RE WRONG!”_ ** Twoie shouted.

Jasper jolted and stared at Twoie. Twoie marched towards her, his pink spreading. **_“SHUT UP!”_**

“Rose.” She narrowed her eyes. 

Steven gasped and gripped Twoie’s wrist, trying to pull him back. “Twoie, stop!”

Jasper furrowed her brows. “Uh- Rose?”

Steven glared at her. “I’m not Rose!”

“Then you’re Rose?” Jasper pointed to Twoie.

“I’m not Rose either!”

Jasper rolled her eyes. “Whatever, Rose and second Rose. Heh, I thought all the other Rose’s had been shattered.” She stalked up to Twoie, who held his ground, entire body pink. Steven pulled harder. “Guess you were lucky.”

She summoned her helmet.

“Until today.”

“HEY! DON’T FORGET ABOUT ME!” Amethyst shouted, whipping Jasper’s leg and tripping her into the dirt at Twoie’s feet. Twoie looked down and seemingly lost some of his reserve, only lightly kicking Jasper’s helmet as an attack.

Amethyst yanked and Jasper was flung back into a wall, cracking the sandstone. Amethyst spun her around again, smashing through a pillar.

“Go, Amethyst!” Steven cheered.  _ She was actually winning! _

“Ha!” Amethyst grinned. “Who’s the runt NOW!?”

Jasper glared up at her. Amethyst whipped her leg and yanked. Jasper kicked it off like it was nothing.

Amethyst gulped. “Uh- ther-there’s more where that came from!”

She whipped her again. And again.

Jasper shrugged it all off, continuing to stalk towards the smaller Quartz.

“Is it sinking in ye--” 

Twoie slammed his fist into her chest, sending her flying back and cracking the wall around her. The cages fell apart, and some gems scrambled out.

“NO!” Jasper screamed, reaching upwards. “MY AR--”

Twoie slammed into her again, roaring and kicking her up into the air.

“Holy shit.” Amethyst whispered. Twoie slammed her down onto the ground and dove after her. She dodged out of the way, eyes wide and panting as Twoie landed before her. He rose up: taller, stronger, bigger.

Jasper gulped. “What kind of game is this!?”

Twoie said nothing in response. He stomped towards her, shaking and swelling up in odd places.

“Um- whoa.” Amethyst and Steven backed up. 

“Twoie?” Steven called nervously.

Jasper got to her feet and Twoie dug his foot into the sand, launching for her. She ducked to the side and kicked his stomach, knocking the air out of him. He wheezed then snarled animalistically, grabbing her around the neck. She kicked his groin and he fell to the ground, whimpering.

“Runt! You think you can beat me!?” Jasper snarled, kicking his jaw. He was flung back and partially buried in the sand before heaving himself up. Before Jasper could make another move, Amethyst whipped her arm. Jasper snatched the whip and snapped it off, throwing it into Twoie’s chest. Twoie yelped and tore the spikes out, stumbling onto his feet, eyes burning pink. 

Steven winced. “Twoie, please! You can’t take her!”

Jasper looked to Steven. “Don’t think I haven’t forgotten about  _ you! _ ” She sprinted for him. Steven screamed, summoning his shield to defend himself. At the last moment, Jasper was body slammed into the wall by a pink, hexagonal, shield. She grunted out in pain.

“YOU CAN DO IT!” Cheered Peridot. Steven opened his eyes and saw Twoie, buzzing with energy, murder in his eyes, pressing the shield into her, keeping her trapped between the wall and it. Steven gasped.

Twoie summoned another shield and slammed her front, then another and pressed against her sides, keeping her caged against the wall. The shields began to close in. Jasper gasped and struggled, looking up at Twoie with wide, frightened, eyes.

Twoie froze. 

The shields weakened just enough and Jasper broke out. She ran for Twoie and slammed him in the abdomen, launching him into the sky as he coughed out blood.

**_“TWOIE!!!”_ ** Steven screamed, tears springing to his eyes. Amethyst gasped in horror.

Twoie was punted back down, smashing into the stone. Jasper landed above him, smirking as the dust cleared. Twoie was frozen solid on the ground, shaking and twitching as she got closer.

_ “TWOIE, GET UP!” _ Steven begged.

Twoie began to cry silently, sclera turning black as his vision fogged over. His breathing was irregular and shallow, speeding up when Jasper grabbed his shirt and lifted him to her face.

_ “Lucky Quartz.”  _

She grabbed his gem.

He inhaled sharply before going completely limp.

“I should shatter you, just like the rest of your kind.”

She pulled.

**_“NO!”_ ** Steven screamed, launching himself forward and ramming Jasper in the face with his shield. Jasper grunted, grip loosening. Amethyst rushed in and whipped her legs, tying her up and catapulting her into a rock. Jasper slammed against it and groaned.

Steven rushed over to Twoie, shaking him. “Twoie!? Twoie!?”

Twoie was breathing hard, sclera black, body shaking. Steven waved a hand in front of his face. There was no response. 

Steven gulped and picked up Twoie, carrying him to the sidelines. His heart wrenched seeing his brother like this… why did he always have to throw himself into danger? Why couldn’t he just be smart and let--

He heard Amethyst scream and whipped around to see her on her knees, Jasper gaining. He gasped and threw his shield at an injector, cutting it in half and sending it careening down to Jasper.

“WATCH OUT!” He yelled. 

Jasper and Amethyst looked up and dodged out of the way as the injector landed, kicking up dust. Steven ran over to Amethyst while Jasper was still distracted and hurt.

“Amethyst, are you okay!?”

“I-- yeah, I guess so!” She glanced over at Twoie. “I-- I just-- I just wanted to prove that I could beat her! That I was strong enough! _Good_ enough! But nobody can beat her, not even Twoie!”

“Amethyst! Stop trying to be like Jasper!” He cried, tears coming to his eyes. “You’re nothing like Jasper! You’re like me! Because we- we’re both not like anybody else!” He glanced over at Twoie.. “... And yeah, it sucks! Because you feel so alone and so scared-- and--...”

“Weak.” Amethyst finished. “... But… but we can’t just keep hating ourselves.”

“That’s right.” Steven sniffled. “You’ve got me, and I’ve got you.”

He held out a hand and gave her a determined smile.

“Now let’s finish this.  _ Together _ .”

Amethyst smiled, tears pooling in her eyes. “Us worst gems stick together, right?”

“Yeah. That’s why we’re the best.” Steven said.

Amethyst chuckled, grabbing his hand and letting him help her up. She smiled and hugged him close. An explosion burst from their forms.

Smoky Quartz stared down Jasper, smirking like they had already won.

Jasper groaned. “Who are you supposed to be!?”

“Smoky Quartz!” Smoky grinned. “ _ Horrible _ to meet ‘ya!”

Jasper gripped her hair in frustration. “IS FUSION THE ONLY TRICK YOU CRYSTAL GEMS KNOW!?”

“Nah, I’ve got plenty of tricks.” They winked. “Ever see sink the dink?”

Smoky summoned their yoyo and smacked Jasper with it three times over, sending her flying backwards. 

“What? Not a fan? Well, how about THIS!?”

Smoky summoned two yoyos, beating down on Jasper and wrapping her up, then flinging her into the nearby wall, cracking it and breaking the rest of her army's cages. Jasper gasped and looked up in terror. “NO! MY ARMY!”

“Serves you right, you bully!” Smoky sneered, anger rising in their gut. They shocked their whips and burned Jasper, then slammed her into a nearby pillar. Jasper broke free and desperately crawled to Ocean’s cage, grabbing her mane.

“I WILL NOT BE BEATEN BY ANOTHER FUSION!”

She yanked on Ocean’s hair and started to glow, fusing with the beast. Smoky backed up, then gasped, a green Jasper flashing into their mind.

“NO! JASPER!”

It was too late. Red Jasper snarled at them, laughing maniacally and pouncing on Smoky, scratching at their form. Smoky screamed and sucker-punched their maw, then kicked with their legs and got out, panting and backing up. 

“We have to save her, Amethyst!” Smoky pleaded.

“Not now! We have to stay togethe--”

Red Jasper charged at them. Smoky screamed and spun their yoyos like fans, pushing Red Jasper back. They brought out a third and hoisted them into the air, panting. “HA! Have I b-blown you away yet?”

Red Jasper screeched and struggled, splitting apart. Jasper desperately held onto Ocean. “NO!” She begged. “WE CAN BEAT THEM! IF WE STAY TOGETHER…!”

She attempted to fuse again, but they split apart and were sent careening to the ground. Smoky stood back, getting ready for another attack.

Ocean got up and ran off, leaving Jasper in the dust.

“Nobody I fuse with… ever wants to stay.” Jasper muttered.

“Gee, wonder why.” Smoky snarked.

Jasper snarled at them. “Why you-- huh?”

She looked down, green spots inching up her body.

“EW! THAT’S DISGUSTING!” Peridot screeched.

“Corruption.” Smoky whispered. They split apart, and Steven ran towards Jasper.

“Jasper! Let me save you!”

Jasper roared and slammed her claw down his front, slicing open his shirt and leaving three long cuts.

“STEVEN!” Amethyst screamed. Steven stumbled back and quickly healed himself, panting. 

“J-Jasper, I can heal you--”

“Shut up, Rose!” She snarled. “I know what you’re up to… you think just because I’m turning, I’ll go to your side!?” She barked out a laugh. “You only want gems after they’re worthless, don’t you? You take the defective--” She glared at Amethyst.

“The worthless--”

She glared at Peridot.

“And the misplaced--” She glared at Twoie, who whimpered and flinched back under her gaze from his corner.

“And you convince them that you’re helping them. That you can give them a purpose. Because when you’re at the bottom: you’ll follow anyone who will make you feel like less of a failure.”

“Just look at that one.” She pointed to Twoie. “Once a mighty Rose Quartz, now a weakling. Cowering from a fight.”

“He whooped your ass earlier!” Amethyst shouted.

“And then she went limp. It’s like she _wants_ to be shattered.”

Twoie flinched.

Jasper laughed. Steven snarled. “SHUT UP! YOU DON’T KNOW _ANYTHING!”_   
  
Amethyst’s eyes widened. Steven broke free of her hold. “YOU-- YOU--” He sniffled. “YOU BULLY! YOU _JERK_! I-- I JUST WANNA HELP YOU! I DON’T CARE IF YOU JOIN US OR NOT, I’M **NOT** GOING TO LET YOU CORRUPT!”

He sprinted for her. Jasper roared and slammed her hand down on him, squeezing around his neck. He choked and attempted to lick his hand.  _ He had to save her…! _

“STEVEN!” Amethyst screeched, running for him. She grunted as Twoie pushed her out of the way, speeding towards Jasper. Jasper looked up, her entire torso corrupted, and slammed her other massive hand into his face, sending him back. Steven bubbled himself and rolled away from her, gasping for air. He glanced over and saw Twoie, struggling to get back up. 

_“TWOIE! STAY OUT OF THIS! YOU’VE DONE_ ** _ENOUGH!”_** He commanded. Twoie flinched back and stared at him. Steven couldn’t be bothered to care. He was just so _angry--_

Jasper cried out in pain, doubling over as the corruption sped up.

“No! It’s getting worse!” Steven gasped. Amethyst held him back as he attempted to run for her. “Amethyst! No! Let me go!”

"No way, dude, you almost died!" Amethyst said, tightening her hold.

Steven huffed and turned back to Jasper. “Jasper! Try not to move!” 

“YOU can’t manipulate ME, Rose Quartz!”

“I’m not manipulating! I’m  _ TRYING  _ to  _ HELP!” _

“Help?” HELP!?” Jasper fumed. “I’VE BEEN _FIGHTING_ FROM THE **SECOND** I BROKE FREE OF THE EARTH’S CRUST! BECAUSE OF WHAT **YOU** DID TO MY COLONY, BECAUSE OF WHAT **YOU** DID TO MY _PLANET_ , BECAUSE OF WHAT **YOU** DID TO _MY DIAMOND!”_

Steven furrowed his brows. “Wh-- Yellow Diamond?”

“Wha- uh-” Jasper sputtered. “ **MY** DIAMOND!  **YOUR** DIAMOND!  **_PINK. DIAMOND!”_ **

Jasper screamed in anguish and doubled over, spikes erupting from her back as her mane covered her face. She looked up, face distorted into that of a beast, and roared furiously. Steven and Amethyst gasped, backing up before Peridot launched a metal bar into her chest.  Jasper poofed.

Her gem clattered to the ground. Steven and Amethyst glanced at Peridot.

“... You’re welcome!” She smiled weakly.

Amethyst sighed and walked to Jasper, bubbling her and sending her off. 

Twoie walked up behind them. Steven turned to him. Twoie smiled weakly and knelt down for a hug. Steven seethed.    
  
“What were you thinking!?” He shouted at Twoie. Twoie flinched back. “Wh… what did I do?”

“What did you-- _WHAT DID YOU DO!?_ What  **_didn’t_ ** you do, Twoie!? You-- you just rushed into danger with _no_ plan, _no_ backup, and then you almost got  _ shattered _ ! What is  _ wrong _ with you!? Do you know how _scared_ I was!?”

Steven tangled his hands in his hair and sat down, groaning in frustration as he curled up. “You could’ve died…”   
  
“I’m sorry, Steven…” Twoie frowned, putting a hand on his back. “I just wanted to protect you…”   
  
Steven felt shame rise in his gut. Twoie sounded so sweet and all he did was protect him… maybe he shouldn’t yell…  _ even though he scared the crap out of me and almost died-- _

Steven shook his head. No, no. He was being stupid. There was no reason to get angry… Twoie wouldn’t do anything that reckless again.

“... It’s okay. I get it.” Steven hugged him. Twoie hugged him back. “... I’m sorry I wasn’t strong enough…” 

“It’s fine.”

“Yeah, dude, seriously.” Amethyst said. “You were super strong.”

Twoie winced. “Guess so.”

“Why did you go limp like that, though?” Peridot asked. “Are you okay? Did she damage a human part of you?”

Twoie looked down at the blood on his shirt. “She did. But I healed it up.”

“Oh.” 

Twoie sighed and sat down, running his hands through his hair. “I wasn’t able to protect you.”

“What!?” Amethyst gasped. “Dude, you protected us a lot.”

“I mean Steven. But, that too.” Twoie bit his lip and shut his eyes in pain. “I didn’t want you to see this. I didn’t want her to corrupt. But I failed.”

“Twoie, this isn’t your fault…” Steven said.

“Yeah, dude.” Amethyst hugged him. “You’re super strong. I’m pretty sure without you softening her up, we wouldn’t have beaten her at all. By the way, can you train me sometime? Those powers were awesome.”

Twoie’s eyes widened. “... No.”

Amethyst frowned. “Why no--”

“My powers aren’t  _ awesome _ , Amethyst. They’re  _ disgusting  _ and  _ violent _ .”

“What…?” Amethyst pulled back. “That’s… no way, man. You made Jasper  _ scared _ . That’s cool. I want that power!”

“Amethyst, you’re not still feeling like you’re lesser than Jasper, are you?” Steven asked.

“Um.” Amethyst bit her lip. “A little, yeah. I mean, I feel better with you by my side, but… Jasper’s still better than me.”

“She’s not better than you, Amethyst.” Twoie said.

“Oh, yeah?  _ How? _ She’s the  _ ultimate  _ Quartz.”

Twoie rolled his eyes. “Being ‘better’ doesn’t mean who’s stronger. That-- that’s stupid--”

“Do you think I’m stronger than her?”

“No. You’re weaker than her, obviously. She’s the strongest Quartz in the fucking world.” Twoie sighed. “And I’m stronger than you, too, since I’m a Diamond. And so’s Steven.”

Amethyst winced.

“Twoie!” Steven scolded. “What the heck!?”

“I’m not done.” Twoie said, holding her hand. “That doesn’t mean she’s BETTER than you. She’s a _wreck_ , Amethyst. Even though she’s got all that power and might, she’s not happy! She’s miserable! Desperate! Lost without a Diamond or a purpose! She HATES herself. She’s so desperate that she fused with a corrupted gem to win a fight-- and she still LOST! Fighting is her whole life.”

He looked up at her. 

“But you-- you’re happy. Maybe not completely, but you’ve got a good family, some good friends, and a purpose. And, y’know, you can still hold yourself in a fight, too.”

Amethyst flushed. “Uh… yeah, well-- what about you? You’re happy  _ and  _ powerful.”

“I didn't used to be.” Twoie said. “I used to be absolutely miserable. I--” 

He frowned deeply and gripped her hand tighter, face contorting in pain.

“I don’t want this power, Amethyst. It’s dangerous, and destructive, and I hate that. I’ve gotten it under control now, but back before I went to therapy… before I started my medication… every little thing would set me off. Whenever I got stressed, I’d glow pink and suddenly everything around me was broken, and everyone around me was hurt. I’d scream and the walls would break, I’d beg someone to stay and I’d trap them in a pink cage, I’d get angry and--”

His eyes flashed black.

“... And I… I can kill people. Easily.”

Amethyst gulped and backed up. “Huh?”

“That’s why I didn’t fight Jasper. That’s why when I saw her eyes: scared… It reminded me of the time that I…”

He bit his lip.

“The time that I _almost_ shattered her.”

Steven gasped.  _ “What?” _

“It was an accident!” Twoie said. “But I lost it. Everyone I loved had left me, everyone who was still around I’d push away. Jasper was all I had left: and she trained me to be violent. Very, very, violent. It was the only way I was expressing myself.”

“D-dude, holy shi--”

“And then we fought. And I lost it. I snapped. I b-broke and I trapped her. I was pink, I was flying, I felt _amazing_.”

He shuddered.

“I felt so _powerful_. And then I brought down my weapon and… _almost_ shattered her. I _cracked_ her... to the point where if I had applied any more force, she _would’ve_ shattered.”

Amethyst stared at him.

“... So.” Twoie gulped. “Being powerful isn’t everything, Amethyst. You don’t have to be like Jasper: in fact, you shouldn’t. Just be you… and… and be happy with what you got. You’re still worth something, even if you’re not super strong or whatever…”

He laid back.

“Man, I said too much.”

Steven and Amethyst exchanged looks. Peridot glanced at them, too.

Steven walked over and sat beside him.

“Is that what I saw on the TV?”

“Yes.” Twoie said. “That’s what you saw. I’m sorry for yelling that night, by the way. I just got triggered and everything sucked.”

“Oh.”

“I still love you, y’know.” Twoie held his hand. “I’m not mad. I never was. I was just scared. I’m sorry.”

“... Did you really almost shatter someone?”

Twoie shut his eyes and nodded, guilt littering his expression that Steven didn’t pick up on.

“Well, you didn’t, so it’s okay, right?”

“...Yeah.” Twoie said.  “... Sorry, I didn’t help at all, did I, Amethyst?” Twoie asked.

“N-no, you helped a lot.” Amethyst said. “I  _ never  _ wanna be like Jasper.”

Twoie nodded, wincing a bit.

“...” Steven looked down at him. “Are you… getting worse? Like how you froze up in The Great North and now? With… with shutting down?”

“I’ll be fine, Steven.” Twoie said. “Don’t you worry.”

“... Okay.”

\----------

Steven laid under the covers, fast asleep after a long night. He held his favourite bears to his chest.

“Mm…”

His face scrunched up and he turned over in bed, twisting the sheets.

The TV turned on, still muted.

_Static_.

Twoie, walking away from Pearl’s outburst, pink shining on the floor.

_Static_.

Twoie, standing in the corner, pink shining on the walls, stomping fusion experiments into dust.

_Static_.

Twoie, banging on the Hospital doors, begging to be let out. He was shaking, and Steven comforted him. Twoie, cowering in the corner, shield up as he grimaced at the fusion experiment, writhing under the covers. Twoie, panicking and staring at the fusion experiment behind his pink wall. Twoie, after riding home, sobbing in Steven’s arms afterwards, explaining his depression, his trauma, his anxiety. 

_Static_.

Mega Steven, seeing things that aren’t there, running off. Twoie, hugging Steven as they cried.

_Static_.

Twoie, backing away from Bismuth. Twoie, warning him about Bismuth. Twoie, screaming fiercely at Bismuth and breaking the house, breaking Steven’s nose. Bismuth, cracked, from Twoie’s blast. Twoie, sobbing on the warp as Steven left him. 

Twoie, fuming as Bismuth refused to destroy the Breaking Point. Twoie, flying against the wall, blood splattered against his back from Bismuth’s blade. Twoie, passed out on the ground, blood pooling. Twoie, running off to puke in the morning, shaky and in pain for a long time after.

_Static_. 

Twoie, looking sadly up at the bubbles.

_Static_.

Twoie, limp in Jasper’s arms. 

_Static_.

“I’m fine, Steven.” He said.

“I hope you don’t grow up to be like me.” He said.   
  
“I suffered so much--”   
  
“I haven’t gone fully pink in  _ years-- _ ”   
  
“I got triggered--”   
  
**“I’m fine, Steven.” He said.**

Click.

Steven wiped his eyes.

The TV shut off.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hooo boy that was a ride, huh? I hope it was. Leave a comment and tell me what you thought!


	33. Back to the Moon

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Everyone goes back to the moon with the Rubies.

Garnet warped into the temple immediately after they returned home.

“Everyone! The rubies are back!”   
  
Amethyst, Twoie, and Steven perked up. “What??” Twoie gasped. “The rubies!?”   
  
“Oh, shoot!” Amethyst ran towards the warp, hopping on. Steven and Twoie following close behind. They warped off to the barn and saw all the Crystal Gems (plus Lapis) around the Rubies, who were being levitated in water by Lapis.

“The rubies!” Steven exclaimed, running up. 

“They showed up on their little ship acting  _ very _ angry, so I put them in time-out.” Lapis said. 

“I thought we were done with these guys…” Steven said, walking over to the Rubies. “Why did you come back here?”   
  
“Let’s release one and just ask what they’re up to.” Garnet suggested. 

“Ooh! Ooh! Can I pick?”   
  
“Go for it.”   
  
Steven looked up at the floating Rubies. “Hmm.. oh!” He pointed to the Ruby with her gem on her leg. “Let’s talk to Leggy!”

“‘Leggy’?” Pearl questioned.

“I named them based on the placement of their gems. There’s Leggy, Army, Navy, Eyeball, and, uh, Doc. Leggy seems like the easiest to talk to.”

Lapis lowered Leggy’s bubble. “Leggy, come on down!”

Leggy’s bubble popped and she fell to the ground. 

“Hey! Hi! I’m Steven! What brings you back to Earth?”   
  
“Uh…” Leggy sat up. “I don’t… know?”

“Oh, uh, I understand.” He said. “I used to forget why we’d go on missions all the time.”   
  
“I’ll just… go stand over there, then.” Ruby said, walking a little ways away. 

“Let’s take a chance on Army.” Steven suggested. 

Army’s bubble popped and she landed on the grass.    
  
“Good afternoon!” Steven greeted.

Army growled and rushed at him. “I’ll tear you limb from limb-- hey!” Garnet picked her up.

“Don’t be like that.” Garnet said. 

“Why I oughtta--” Ruby growled and muttered curses, squirming around.

“Aw.” Garnet cooed, putting the Ruby under her arm. “Next!”

“Uh… Navy?”   
  
Navy was released.

“If I remember correctly, we were on Earth… Uh…” She blushed, shying away from everyone’s stares. “Oh, this is so embarrassing… uh-- ah!” Navy rushed off to Leggy.   
  
Twoie groaned. “They’re probably here because Jasper wasn’t on Neptune.”

“Oh… that’s right…” Steven hummed. “So we just gotta send them to another planet! Uh, Lapis, release the rest. I wanna talk to Doc.”   
  
“On it.” Lapis said, doing so. Twoie facepalmed.

Doc dropped to the ground and crossed her arms. “Where’s Jasper!? Last time we came, you tricked us into playing that stupid game! Then, you said, ‘She’s on Neptune.’, so we looked, and she wasn’t there!  _ Or  _ any other planet in this whole dang  _ solar system! _ Tell us where she is RIGHT NOW! No games, no tricks, and  _ no  _ slick disguises.”

The rubies, who had now gathered behind her, cheered in agreement. 

**_“HEY!”_ **

They looked over. Amethyst was shapeshifted to look like Jasper. She blew some hair out of her face and smiled nervously.

“I’m right here.”

Pearl stared in disbelief. “... Is she serious? There’s no way this is gonna--”   
  
“Look! It’s Jasper!” 

The Rubies cheered. 

“Hey, Jasper!” Eyeball called, walking out from the crowd towards her. “I’m Ruby 1F4-Cut-4ND. I fought in the war for Earth.”    
  
She did a Diamond salute.

“Uh… at ease!” Amethyst said. 

“I was on the ground in Facet 6 when I heard the tale of the Facet 9 Kindergarten Quartz That Could. They say you popped outta the ground with your helmet on and took out 80 Crystal Gems before the sun went down! When I found out this mission was to look for you, I nearly dissipated my form! It is an honour to finally meet you.”

“Yup! That’s me! Always huge, never small! All the-- all the time since I was made!” Amethyst said, sweating. 

“Wait a minute!” Eyeball said. “You look different than I thought you would.”

“Oh, here it is…” Pearl sighed.

“Oh!” Amethyst exclaimed. “You must mean my tan! From the sun!”

Eyeball glanced up at the sun, then back down at Amethyst. 

“...”   
  
“Stupid Earth Sun!” She cursed, kicking the Earth. The other Rubies joined in. 

Pearl facepalmed.

“Well, it’s a good thing we finally found you.” Eyeball said. “Yellow Diamond is awaiting your return. We’ll take you back to Homeworld right away.”   
  
“NO! Uh- I mean…” Amethyst cleared her throat. “I, Jasper, have decided to stay on Earth.”   
  
“What!?” “Why?” The Rubies questioned. “Why, Jasper?”   
  
“Because… I gotta stay here with… these guys!” She gestured to the rest of the group. “Yup! Gotta keep ‘em prisoner for the Diamonds!”

Army slowly clapped for her.

“Jasper…” Another Ruby tearfully said.

“Such devotion…”   
  
“Well, Yellow will definitely wanna know about this.” Doc said. “You’ll have to file a report to the nearest Diamond base.”

“Where’s that?” Leggy asked.

“Um, I think we passed it on the way here…”   
  
“Yeah…”   
  
“You dummies!” Doc huffed. “It’s! Uh!...”   
  
Eyeball groaned, pointing to the moon. “It’s there!”

“I gotta hold this all the way to the moon!?” Amethyst blurted in her normal voice. She glanced down at the Rubies. “Um! Hold… this… Hold these... “ She imitated Jasper again. “Hold these prisoners! Gotta bring the rebel prisoners if we’re going to the moon! Can’t leave them here unsupervised!”   
  
“Very well. To the ship!” Doc said, hurrying off with the rest of the Rubies to the ship.

“What are you  _ doing _ ?” Pearl hissed at Amethyst. “This isn’t going to work!”

Garnet crossed her arms. “You can’t hold that form forever.”

“I can do this.” Amethyst whispered. “We’ll go to the moon, come back, and they’ll leave us alone! Just play along.”   
  
She gave them a gentle shove towards the ship. Twoie didn’t start walking. Amethyst shoved him again and he did, following the group. Steven glanced back at him. “Hey, Twoie?”   
  
“Yeah?”   
  
“Does this turn out okay?”   
  
Twoie bit his lip and glanced at the ship. “Um… well… do we have any other plan?”   
  
“N-no… I don’t think so.”   
  
“We could poof them all.” Garnet whispered.   
  
“But then Homeworld would probably send someone else to retrieve them  _ and _ Jasper!” Pearl said. “And they might not be as stupid as these guys.”   
  
“True…” Garnet said. Twoie gulped and looked down at Steven, then at the Ruby ship. He sighed and went in after the group. 

“Whoa, it’s huge in here…” Steven gaped. “Cool…”   
  
“HEY!” Eyeball scowled. “This ain’t no pleasure cruise!”   
  
“Yeah!” Amethyst said gruffly. “Show some respect you Crystal  _ Germs _ !”

“Yeah! You tell ‘em Jasper!”   
  
“I bet they got those germs from Earth!”

Garnet snapped her fingers. “Aw, curses! I can’t believe we’ve been caught! And by none other than Jasper! I’m so cross over it…” She went and sat down by the wall.

“Uh-huh!” Steven said, walking over and sitting down, too. “That sure is Jasper-- the one that caught us. Harumph.”

“ _ Of ALL the INDIGNITIES!”  _ Pearl lamented, posing theatrically. “ _ Do what you want! I’ll NEVER talk!" _

“I wish.” Amethyst snarked.

Doc laughed. “Yeah, she talks a lot!”   
  
Pearl blushed and sat down.

Twoie just silently went and sat by the wall.

Steven watched as Amethyst and the Rubies interacted. The Rubies seemed to really like her…

He sighed. The  _ real _ Jasper was corrupted and bubbled in the basement… it hurt to think of. He pushed his thoughts deep down-- he could think about that later. Maybe talk about it with Twoie. 

He glanced at Twoie, who was staring off into space with a mildly concerned look in his eyes. 

“... Twoie…?”  
  
 _“NO!”_ Pearl cried. Steven jolted and looked over. “Stay away from us, you brute!”  
  
Ah, Amethyst was coming back. 

“Tone it down, Pearl!” Amethyst whispered. “That one Ruby wants to throw you out into space.”

Eyeball punched her palm menacingly.

Pearl winced. “Sorry. Got a bit carried away…”

“Uh, you okay, Amethyst? You’ve been holding that form forever now.” Steven asked.

“I’ve got it under control…” Amethyst said, strained. 

“HEY!” She called as Jasper, walking off to Doc. “My seat better still be warm when I get over there!” 

Twoie bit his lip. “Maybe when Amethyst reverts, Garnet can take over as Jasper.”   
  
“Won’t they notice her disappearance?” Pearl asked.

“Uh.” Twoie sweated. “Uhm… we can say that Garnet… got away!”   
  
“And what about Amethyst suddenly appearing?” Pearl asked again.

“We can say that she was always there, but just… uh… behind the group? She’s small, it’ll work.”   
  
“Seems risky.” Garnet said.

“Yeah.” Steven sighed. “We should just go along with this.”   
  
Twoie gulped. “Okay, but, Garnet, please promise me you’ll turn into Jasper when Amethyst can’t hold it, okay? Please, try it out.”   
  
“Sure.” Garnet shrugged.

“Promise?”   
  
“Promise.”

Twoie sighed in relief. “Okay, thank god.”

They arrived inside the Moon Base, the rubies exiting first. Steven heard Doc give the ‘all clear’ before the rest filed out. Steven exited the Ruby ship, trying to bounce ahead before Garnet grabbed him and kept him on the ground. 

“Look at this place… frozen in time. An Era-one base.” Eyeball said, looking around with her gem acting as a flashlight. She looked up at Pink Diamond’s mural. “ _ Her _ Era One base… It was a tragedy, what happened to her.”

“Who is that anyway?” Leggy asked.

“Were you made  _ yesterday _ !?” Eyeball shot. “ _ That _ is Pink Diamond-- hey, wait a minute.”   
  
Eyeball squinted.

“SOMEONE DEFACED HER MURAL!”   
  
The Crystal Gems glanced back at Twoie. Twoie snickered.   
  
“THESE HUMANS! UGH!” Eyeball seethed. “DISGUSTING!”   
  
“Wait, there’s some Gemglyph on this one!” Navy pointed out.   
  
Eyeball gaped. “WHAT KIND OF GEM WOULD BE SO DISGUSTING AS TO WRITE  _ THAT _ ON YELLOW DIAMOND’S MURAL!?”

Twoie snickered harder, covering his mouth with his hand. 

“I swear, we are going to report this and get it taken care of.” Eyeball huffed. “Disgusting. Does anyone have something to clean that?”   
  
They all shook their heads.

Eyeball glared at Pearl. Pearl stiffened. “Uh, yes?”   
  
“Pearl! You know how to clean! Clean this!”   
  
Pearl frowned. “Ugh, sorry, but I don’t have any cleaning supplies on me at the moment…”   
  
Steven looked at her in confusion.

Pearl gave him a ‘talk to you later’ look. Eyeball growled. “Whatever. Let’s-- ugh-- just ignore that for now… we’ve got more important things to get to…”   
  
“That’s right.” Doc said. “Everyone, follow me. And Ruby, please educate Ruby on who Pink Diamond is… it’s really a disgrace to not know your history-- especially an event as important as hers.”   
  
Eyeball nodded, ascending the stairs with everyone else.

“Earth was Pink Diamond’s colony. Everything was going smoothly at first. Kindergartens were incubating their first soldiers: big, warm, pieces of Quartz-- like this mountain over here.” She looked up at Amethyst. “Were being created from it's rich minerals with great success. Then-- bam! One of Pink Diamond’s very own Quartz soldiers started a rebellion and took it too far.” Eyeball looked up at Amethyst. “Where were you when it happened?”   


“Oh, you know, around.” Amethyst replied.

“ _ I  _ was there.” Eyeball said, stopping. “I saw it with my own eye. I watched the leader of the Crystal Gems, Rose Quartz,  _ shatter _ Pink Diamond!”

Leggy gasped. Most of the other Rubies winced in pain.

The Crystal Gems shared a knowing glance. Twoie suppressed a small chuckle at the irony. 

“Uh, yeah.” Amethyst said. “That was really… traumatic for me, too... “ She smiled nervously and shrugged. “Man… I would uh, give  _ anything _ for my Diamond back…”   


Eyeball teared up. “I feel the same way…”

“Hey, we got a problem.” Doc said. Everyone went up. Steven glanced at Twoie. Twoie pat his head. “Glad I told you before this.” He whispered. “This woulda been a horrible way to find out, huh?”   
  
Steven smiled and nodded. “Definitely.”

They arrived on the top of the Moon Base. 

“The panel is broken, and the communicator is gone.” Doc reported, gesturing to the smashed panel and missing communicator. “There’s no way to contact Yellow Diamond from this hub.

“Who would do this?” Navy frowned.   
  
“The same person who defaced the murals!” Eyeball shouted. “The Crystal Gems!”   
  
“Unbelievable!”   
  
“Rude!”   
  
“No respect!”   
  
Amethyst turned back into herself, sweating. Twoie winced and nudged Garnet, who stepped forward. Amethyst looked at her and then shifted back as Doc looked at her.

“We’ll have to take you to Homeworld and file a report in person.” She said.

“I can’t! I can’t go!” Amethyst strained. 

Confusion passed through the Rubies. Eyeball looked up at Amethyst. Amethyst smiled weakly and put a hand in Eyeball's afro.

“You know what? You know me! Do me a favour and go back home and file the report for me! I’m trusting you, soldier.” 

Eyeball’s eye sparkled. “Wow… of course!”   
  
“That settles it!” Doc concluded. “Alright, Rubies, back to the ship!”   
  
They got downstairs and the Rubies went into the ship, leaving the rest of them outside safe. Amethyst shifted back to herself and heaved. “Whew!”

“Alright, Amethyst!” Steven smiled.    


Garnet smiled. “You really held it together!”   
  
“Garnet!” Twoie blurted. “Turn into Jasper! Now!”   
  
Garnet looked at the Ruby ship. “The Rubies are--”   
  
“NOW!”   


Garnet huffed and shapeshifted into Jasper. “... We are going to have a talk about your attitude when we get back.”

The Ruby ship opened. “Hey, you need a ride back to Earth?” Doc asked. “I could sit in your lap if you wanted… uh.”   
  
Garnet gulped. “No thank you, I am good.”   
  
“Wait.” Pearl whispered. “We can’t get back otherwise.”

“Nevermind.” Garnet said. “We want a ride.”   
  
Doc squinted. “Who’s that?”   
  
Amethyst bit her lip. “I am… uh… Amethyst!”   
  
“I _know_ you’re an  _ Amethyst _ . Where’d you come from?”   
  
“Earth.”   
  
Doc snarled. “I  _ mean _ you weren’t on the ship when we flew here!”   
  
“She was in the back!” Twoie said. “You just didn’t see her ‘cause she’s short!”   
  
Amethyst glared at him. 

“That makes sense…” Leggy said, exiting the ship. “Wait… Jasper… you look different!”

“Yeah.” Doc huffed.

“Um. It’s the lighting.” Garnet said. 

“Why are you wearing shades?” Navy asked.

“Because the moon is… bright.” 

“That makes sense!” Navy said.

“No, it doesn’t.” Doc said, stepping out of the ship and examining Garnet. “... let me see your gem.”   
  
Garnet kneeled down, showing her ‘gem’.

Doc leaned in and examined it. “Hm. It looks… dull.”   
  
“Rude.” Garnet said.

“Don’t be rude to Jasper!” Eyeball scolded.

“This isn’t Jasper.” Doc said, grabbing her hand and pointing to the gem on it. “This is another gem!”

“We’ve been tricked!?” The Rubies gasped. Twoie groaned. Garnet shifted back. “Well, I tried.”

“Rubies, assemble!”   
  
They all hopped to each other, stacking and fusing into the Giant Ruby. Twoie started to pant, getting out his shield. “Oh, god.”

“We won’t let you trick us ag-- ow!” the Giant Ruby stumbled back when Twoie’s shield hit her nose.

“Hey, Rubies!” Steven called from the door. Twoie gasped and stared, glancing back at the spot where he had been. “Steven, no--”   
  
“If you’re gonna fight, take it outside!” Steven yelled, slamming his hand on the panel and opening the Moon Base door. Twoie went fully pink.

**_“_ ** **_STEVEN! CLOSE THAT RIGHT NOW!”_ **

Steven winced, then jolted as The Giant Ruby was sucked into the doorway. She hung onto the sides. “You can’t get rid of us that easy!”

Sardonyx appeared, Amethyst on her shoulder.

“I bet she can!” Steven grinned, winking at Twoie to reassure him. Twoie had gone completely pale and was hyperventilating, backing away from Sardonyx. Steven frowned. Why was he so--

Sardonyx slammed her warhammer into the Ruby's stomach, unfusing them. Before Steven could process what was happening, he felt himself get snagged by Eyeball. He struggled to hold onto the door frame, but the vacuum of space was too strong. He screamed as she tore him out into space--

And then he was back inside.

“W-wha--” He caught sight of Twoie, thrown outside the Moon base and reaching for Steven as he got further and further away. 

“TWOIE!!!” He and Amethyst screamed, rushing towards the door. But they both knew it was too late. The doors shut and Twoie was gone.

Steven dropped to his knees, feeling his heart sink.

“Twoie…”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> uh oh cliffhangerrrr   
> lol i promise I don't plan cliffhangers over the weekend haha  
> anyways leave a comment if you enjoyed!!!


	34. Bubbled

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Steven and the Crystal Gems search for Twoie in space. Steven is not happy about it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> tw// emeto, mention of starvation (dw tho)

Steven buried his head in his hands. “I’m so STUPID! I knew he was freaked out, but I didn’t even--”   
  
“Steven, hey, it’s okay!” Amethyst said, rushing up to him and giving him a hug. “W-we’ll get him back.” 

Garnet and Pearl ran over, hugging him, too. “Yeah, w-we’ll get him back.” Pearl said.

“HOW!?” Steven cried. “He’s in the middle of space!  _ Infinite _ space!”   


Pearl pointed to the Ruby ship. Steven followed her gaze. “That’s how.”   


Quickly, the gems rushed inside. Pearl sat down at the controls, trying to glean any information from the outdated text. “Hmmm… seems like Era 2 tech, thank the stars. Um…”   
  
“Do you know how to work it?” Amethyst asked.

“No! Pearl’s aren’t designed for this! Uh, Garnet! You-- you should know!”   


Garnet looked at her in confusion.

“Because one of your components is a Ruby! This ship is designed for Rubies!”   
  
“I’ll try.” Garnet said, sitting down as Pearl got up.

Garnet messed around with the controls a little and the ship started flying. “Ah-ha!” 

She went to the door and remotely opened it, then flew out.

“Oh man, oh man!” Amethyst whined, leaning against Steven. “This is horrible!”   
  
Steven only got more uneasy at her panicking. “What if we can’t get him back!?”

“We will!” Pearl frantically reassured. “We-we have to! If we don’t get him back, then…” She gulped. “That would mean he would starve to death in space… or-- oh, stars, HUMANS CAN’T SURVIVE IN SPACE!” She gasped. “HE’S PROBABLY ALREADY DEAD!”   
  
“WHAT!?” Amethyst and Steven shrieked.

“PEARL! NOT HELPING!” Garnet yelled. “TWOIE IS HALF GEM, HE’LL MAKE IT! A-AND…” She checked her future vision. “He has his bubble.”   
  
Pearl nodded slowly. “R-right… but if we don’t find him soon, he  _ will _ starve…”   
  
“I KNOW that, Pearl!” Garnet barked. “Now help me look! All of you! At all windows!”   
  
Amethyst and Pearl rushed to the windows. Steven slowly got up and looked out one, still fighting back tears as he searched every star for a sign of Twoie.

“Yo, dude, it’ll be okay.” Amethyst said.

“I hope so.”

_ An hour passed. _

Still no sign of Twoie.

Pearl and Garnet were still adamantly looking. Amethyst had decided to take a small break. Steven was sitting in one of the chairs while she sat on the floor.

“...  _ I _ almost got pulled out there.” Steven said. “In fact, I think I did… but then suddenly I was inside…”   
  
“Yeah, I know.” Amethyst said. “It was crazy… there was like, this pink blur, and then--”   
  
She paled.

Steven’s eyes widened.

“... Do you think Twoie… he-- he sacrificed himself for me?”

Amethyst gulped. “Maybe. I mean… in the heat of the moment, y’know?”

Steven thought for a moment, then his jaw set and his eyes widened.    
  
“No.” He muttered. “This wasn’t an accident. This was planned.”   
  
_ “What?” _

“He  _ knew _ that this was going to happen.” He said slowly. “That’s why he was so nervous back home,  _ that’s  _ why he told Garnet to have a back up plan,  _ that’s _ why he was panicked in the first place, why he was so  _ angry _ when I opened the door…”

It dawned on him.

“His face.”   


He remembered Twoie’s face as he was sucked into the void of space. It wasn’t important to him at the time, as the main goal was to get him  _ back inside,  _ but looking back… Twoie wasn’t afraid. He wasn’t trying to get back  _ at all.  _ In fact, he looked almost… accepting. Steven remembered his eyes: not wide with fear, but numb.  _ Resigned.  _

“What about his face…?” Amethyst asked.

“He…” Steven shuddered. “He  _ wanted  _ this to happen. He  _ wanted  _ it to be him instead of me. He sacrificed himself  _ knowingly _ to this…”   
  
He looked out to space.

“He’s been through this before…”   


“Why would he want to go through that again!?” Amethyst asked, voice cracking.

“... So  _ I _ wouldn’t have to.” Steven whispered. “Oh my god. Oh my god-- that’s what this is, isn’t it? He-- He’s been throwing himself into danger every day… just to protect  _ me _ .”    
  
He clutched his shirt.

“He’s going through all the same stuff that happened to him, all the stuff that messed him up as a kid…  _ again _ . For  _ me. _ ” 

It felt like he was being suffocated.

Pearl glanced back at them.

“... Isn’t that good?” Amethyst asked. “... Protecting you?”   
  
“But he’s hurting himself. I don’t want him to hurt himself. You know what happened yesterday at the Kindergarten, Amethyst. He--” He gulped. “He’s getting worse.”   
  
“Wait, you two went to the Kindergarten?” Pearl asksed.

“We went to the one Jasper was made in.” Steven said. “She was there. We fought. Twoie was winning… until… he saw her sc-scared and then--” He shook. “She beat him up and made him bleed… and then tried to take out his gem to shatter him.”   
  
Pearl gasped. “Oh my stars… are-- but-- he seemed  _ fine _ !”   
  
Steven frowned, Pearl’s words adding another pin to the corkboard in his mind: connecting all of Twoie to that one solution, the true  _ reason  _ why he was so reckless and secretive. 

“He wasn’t.”    
  
“Wait, why would he stop when she got scared?” Pearl wondered. “Wait. She was  _ scared _ ? Of  _ Twoie?” _ _   
_ _   
_ Amethyst and Steven exchanged looks. Amethyst bit her lip. “W-well… that’s because…”   
  
She fell silent.

“... No, no, I can’t-- I shouldn’t tell you--”   
  
“Tell me what, Amethyst?” Pearl asked, getting nervous.

“Twoie almost shattered her.” Steven said numbly.

The Ruby ship screeched to a halt, throwing everyone off balance.

“... S-sorry.” Garnet muttered after a moment, moving the ship again. 

“He did what?” Pearl whispered, eyes wide.

“He  _ almost _ shattered Jasper in the future, I saw it.” Steven said, shaking harder. “I saw his dream, projected onto the TV. He was training with her because everyone else in his life had left him-- and everyone who he  _ could  _ trust, he didn’t. So he went to Jasper to get his ‘Pink Power’ under control. But she only taught him to be violent, and mean and… and when they fought… he lost it.”    
  
He looked down at his hands, at his gem, at the  _ pinkness _ of his gem. “I saw him rise above her… and he said… he said that he was holding back… and then he threw down his ‘weapon’ and… cracked her really badly. I’ve never seen Jasper so scared.” Steven whimpered. “And-- and I don’t know  _ why  _ I didn’t think of it before-- but he had to have been in  _ so much pain _ to do that, right? To go to  _ Jasper _ for help?!”

He sat down again, yanking at his curls. “Everything I’ve been through leads up to that. Leads to _him_. _That’s_ why he’s been throwing himself in harm's way. _But if all of that_ ** _once_** _is enough to scar him for life… then him_ ** _doing it again…_** **”**

Steven sobbed.

The ship was silent.

Pearl walked over and held him. “... Don’t worry, Steven. We’ll make sure that you don’t end up like that. We’ll protect you.”   
  
“I know you will.” Steven murmured, wiped his eyes. “But who’s going to protect Twoie?”   
  
“We will.” Amethyst said.

“But it seems like this is inevitable.” Steven said. “If all these events have to happen in my life anyway to lead to… to Homeworld surrendering and Earth being safe… then **_someone_** has to take it. _And that_ ** _someone_** _is either_ ** _me_** _or_ ** _him_** _.”_

Nobody knew what to say. Amethyst and Pearl just hugged him again. Garnet got up for a second and hugged him, too, before returning to the controls.

_ Another hour passed. _

Steven was looking out the windows. 

He felt numb.

And hungry.

He couldn’t imagine how Twoie felt right now.

…

Wait.

He rubbed his eyes and looked out into space again.

“Hey, guys… what if I slept and went into Twoie’s mind?” He asked. “See what he sees?”   
  
“What? You can do that?” Pearl asked.   
  
“Yeah.” Steven said. “I kinda found out with Kiki and Lars.”   
  
“Worth a shot, I suppose.” Pearl said. “Good luck.”   
  
Steven nodded, walking off to lay under a desk so it would be darker. It took a few minutes, but eventually he fell asleep. In his dreamless void he focused on Twoie, and suddenly he found himself in a bubble in the middle of space, floating aimlessly.

He tried to look around. Nothing happened.

_ What? Why can’t I move? _ Thought Steven. 

Twoie rubbed his head. 

“Goddamnit, now I got a fuckin’ headache.” He groaned. 

_ Wait, am I just observing his life?  _ Steven thought to himself.  _ Ugh, creepy. _

Steven tried to see if there were any planets in view. There seemed to be a red one far away, and he could see the moon to his left. No sign of the Ruby ship. Darn.

Twoie whimpered and tilted his head back. Steven saw a stain on the inside of the bubble. Gross.

“Welp.” Twoie said to himself. “All I gotta do is wait… I guess…”   
  
He did a spin in his bubble and then looked down. Steven saw dried puke on his shirt.

Twoie stretched out and the bubble stretched with him.

“Oh, well. At least Steven’s safe…” He yawned. “Better me than him…”   
  
He shut his eyes, trying to sleep.

_ What!?  _ Steven fumed. ‘ _ Better me than him!?’ TWOIE!!!  _

Twoie passed out and Steven woke up, sitting up immediately and hitting his head against the desk. He growled and pushed himself out.

“Any luck?” Amethyst asked. 

“I could see the moon and Mars.” He seethed.

“Good to know.” Said Garnet, turning right.

“You okay, dude?” Amethyst asked. “You seem ticked.”   
  
“I  _ AM!” _ Steven yelled. “I WAS RIGHT! TWOIE DID THIS TO SPARE ME WITH NO THOUGHT OF HIMSELF!!!” He kicked a nearby chair and screamed. “ARRGH!”   
  
“Whoa, dude.” Amethyst steadied him. “Chill. You can cuss out Twoie when we find him.”

Steven huffed, sitting down on the ground. He was still fuming, but being angry would only make him more tired. “Hmph.”

_ Half an hour passed. _

“THERE!” Pearl shouted.

Everyone rushed to her side, seeing her point to a small pink dot. Garnet gasped and rushed over to it. Twoie was curled up inside. She activated the tractor beam and sucked him in. When he landed inside and the bubble popped, he was unconscious.

“TWOIE!!” Garnet quavered.

Twoie slowly cracked open an eye.

He smiled and coughed.

“Heh, t-took you long enough…”   
  
The whole group erupted into tears, holding him for dear life.

Except Steven.

Steven stood by, watching them hug and cry and exchange relief and reassurance before Twoie finally looked over at him.

“Hey, buddy!” He beamed. “You okay?”

“Are you?”

Twoie faltered. “Uh… yes?”   


“That’s a lie.” Steven grumbled, marching forward. “I can’t  _ believe  _ you’re lying to me!”   
  
“I--” Twoie gulped. “I just don’t want you to worry--”   
  
“YOU’RE A HYPOCRITE!” Steven erupted. “YOU KEEP TELLING ME TO OPEN UP ABOUT MY FEELINGS, PROTECT MYSELF, TAKE CARE OF MYSELF, BUT YOU’RE NOT DOING THAT AT ALL!”   
  
He pointed furiously to his shirt.

“YOU  _ PUKED _ ! YOU PROBABLY HAD A PANIC ATTACK! H-HOW IS THAT _ FINE!?” _

“S-steven… I…” He gulped. “Well, you see, before it would have been  _ you _ … and isn’t it better that it’s me? I  _ saved _ you…”   
  
“Well, if you’re the one saving me, who’s the one saving YOU!?”

Twoie frowned. “... Um.”   
  
“ _ EXACTLY _ .” Steven shot. **“Nobody!”** **  
**

“That doesn’t matter.” Twoie said. “I’m gonna die, so it’s okay.”

Steven flinched back in offense. “And just because you’re going to die soon means you can’t enjoy life!? That all this suffering, all your happiness, _everything_ _MEANS_ ** _NOTHING_** **?!”**

Twoie winced. “... B-but if I hadn't have stepped in,  _ you _ would’ve gotten hurt.”   
  
“But  **you** got hurt.” Steven stated, voice cracking, his anger finally quelling, leaving only anguish behind.

“You gotta realize, Twoie, I care about  _ you _ , too… Everytime you see me get hurt and feel bad,  _ I _ feel the  _ same way  _ when  _ you’re _ hurt.”

Twoie’s eyes widened.

Steven’s fists shook. “A-and don’t think I haven’t noticed you hiding your feelings from me. I  _ knew _ that going through all your bad experiences again is affecting you! I’ve known it since day ONE! They make you have panic attacks, and scars, and- and make you puke and cry and have nightmares and turn pink and  _ yell at me!” _

He screwed his eyes tightly.

“There’s no way out of this, is there?”   
  
“What… do you mean?” Twoie rasped quietly. “No way out of w-what, Steven?”

“Everything that happened, happened to lead up to everything turning out okay, right? Healing the corrupted gems, freeing Earth from Homeworld… everything that I went through has to happen for that to come true, right?”   
  
“...” Twoie gulped. “W-well, maybe there’s another way, but I don’t know if--”   
  
“But we can’t risk that, can we?”   
  
“...”

Steven sighed. “... Twoie, You need to go back.”   
  
Twoie gasped. “W-- but…  _ Steven _ , I don’t have to go back until you’re eighteen, remember?”   


“Fine, then. You stay.”   
  
Twoie sighed in relief.

“But you can’t go on missions anymore.”   
  
**_“WHAT!?_ ** _ NO!” _

**“Then go home!”** Steven shot. 

“NO!” Twoie protested. “If I go home, who will protect you?”   


“But if you protect me, who protects you?”   
  
**“NOBODY!** And that’s  _ fine!  _ Because I’ve already been through this before!"

“That makes it  **_WORSE_ ** _ , TWOIE!” _ Steven screamed. “Because you’re going to just get worse and worse and I can’t stand by and let my brother kill himself like that! It hurts me, too!”

Twoie backed up, quivering. He looked up at the rest of the gems. 

They looked away. Amethyst seemed wary.

“No… guys… I… I don’t want to go back.”   
  
“We don’t want you to go back, either.” Garnet said. “But Steven is right. Being in the past is hurting you.”

“... What if you, like, split it?” Amethyst asked. “One of you gets hurt, then the other, then…”   
  
“Amethyst.” Pearl hissed.   
  
“Pearl, he already said that there’s no way around it.” She sighed. “I just don’t want Twoie gone.”   
  
Twoie shook his head. “No, no, I wouldn’t be able to forgive myself if Steven suffered when I could’ve helped him.”   
  
_ “Then how do you think I feel?” _

Twoie looked down at Steven. Steven looked up at him tearfully.

Twoie sighed. “I’m guessing you feel the same way.”   
  
Steven nodded.  Twoie knelt down and opened his arms.

“I just wanna protect you.”   
  
“I know.”   
  
Steven hugged him.

“I wanna protect you, too. That’s why I gotta send you back.”   
  
“I know.”   
  
Steven sighed. 

“I love you, Twoie.”   
  
“I love you, too, Steven.”   


Amethyst came in and hugged them, then Pearl, then Garnet.

They didn’t ever want to let go.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Leave a comment if you enjoyed!


	35. The Night of our Lives

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Steven decides to give Twoie one last night of fun

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> tw// underage drinking

Twoie has been warping off more frequently lately.

A lot more frequently.

They still hadn’t sent him back, because they wanted to make sure he didn’t leave anything from the future behind in the past (at least, that’s what everyone’s reason was-- Steven knew that nobody actually wanted him to go. And, as far as Steven was concerned, he could stay until something else dangerous happened).

Steven figured that Twoie was going to his little happy area he went to when he was sad. Twoie was sad a lot lately. Steven had tried to cheer him up with video games and stuff but nothing was working. Steven frowned and sighed. He knew it was his fault, too, which sucked. He shouldn’t have snapped like that… he already apologized and Twoie said it was fine but he knew it wasn’t!

Maybe he was just sad about… basically dying? Kind of? Even if it wasn’t really death, nothing would be the same…

An idea struck him. He set down his phone and ran downstairs, leaping in front of Twoie. Twoie looked up from his phone and waved. “Hey, Steven.”

“Twoie, I just got a really good idea.”

“Oh, yeah?” Twoie set down his phone. “What’s the idea?”

“Okay, so… you know how people have a list of stuff they wanna do before they die?”

“A bucket list, yeah.”

“Do you have one?”

“Um, no? Wh-- oh.” Twoie frowned. “Steven, I’ll be fine. We don’t need to do a whole adventure before I… disappear.”

“But we do! Because you’re sad and… I feel bad that you’re sad and I don’t want you leaving feeling like this!” Steven held his hands, looking Twoie in the eyes. “I wanna give you a good send off, Twoie.”

Twoie blinked. “Um… okay? How, though? Are we just gonna… hang out in the house and throw a party or whatever…?” He said in a bored tone.

Steven frowned. It didn’t seem like Twoie liked that idea, so that was a no. “Uh… No! ‘Course not! It needs to be… really fun and cool! We need to cram as much fun as possible into one night so…”

His eyes widened.

“OH! OH! I know EXACTLY what we’re gonna do!” He beamed, letting go of his hands and heading to the door. Twoie frowned. “Wh-- aren’t you gonna tell me??”

“Nope! It’s a surprise! But I know you’ll love it!”

Twoie sighed. “Okay…”

\----

The night was approaching now, and Steven was giving Twoie directions in the car. 

“Go right!”

Twoie turned right.

“Okay, now it’s just two more blocks and then you turn left and we’re there!”

Twoie huffed. “I can’t believe you’re still not gonna tell me what this is…”

“You’ll see!” Steven smiled. “You’ll have a lot of fun, I know it.”

Twoie smiled faintly. “Hm. Okay.”

Steven felt his heart lighten at that smile. He hoped he saw a lot more of that tonight.

They pulled up and stopped at Sour Cream’s house.

Twoie looked around and frowned. “Uh… is this it?”

“Not yet, silly!” Steven said, hopping out of the car and taking Twoie’s hand. Twoie locked the car and was led up to Sour Cream’s house. He pulled back a bit and frowned. “W-whoa, wait-- Steven, this is Sour Cream’s place!”

“I know that!” Steven said. “Remember at the wedding when you said you wanted to do ‘cool teenage stuff like in movies’? Well, these are cool, teenage, kids, who are gonna do cool teenage fun stuff with you!”

Twoie gulped. “B-but I don’t know them!"

“You do know them, though! They just don’t know you yet. But they will!”

He rang the doorbell.

Twoie turned back to the car, and Steven grabbed his hand, tugging him forward. “Trust me, Twoie. There’s nothing to be scared of. They were already going to hang out tonight, and I talked to them about it. They want you along.”

“I think they just pity me…” Twoie sighed.

“What? Why would they--”

Sour Cream opened the door. He looked down at Steven and smiled. “Steven! Hey! And… Twoie!” He waved. “What’s up?”

“Oh, hi.” Twoie blushed. “Um, I’m so sorry about this…”

Sour Cream tilted his head. “‘Bout what?”

Steven sighed. “Twoie thinks that you guys don’t want him along, even though I told him it was fine.”

“Oh, dude.” Sour Cream put a hand on his shoulder. “Don’t worry! Steven explained you were gonna leave soon and stuff and… like, you were fun at the wedding, y’know? More the merrier? So, don’t be weird about it.”

“Are you sure?”

“Totally. Come inside.”  Sour Cream went in. Twoie blinked. 

“Huh…”

“I told you.” Steven smiled. “Tonight’s gonna be fun, I promise.”

Twoie chuckled nervously. “I hope so…”

They walked in and took off their shoes before going into the living room. Twoie let go of Steven’s hand and stuffed it into his pocket as he walked in. Jenny, Buck Dewey, and Sadie looked up from the video game they were playing. Jenny paused the game and waved. “Hey! Are you Twoie?”

“Uh, yeah?”

“Nice to meet you, I’m Jenny.”

“Buck Dewey.”

“I’m Sadie, but I think we’ve met before.” Sadie smiled.

“Oh, yeah, we have.” Twoie nodded. “...”

Steven frowned. Wow, teenage him was really awkward. He grabbed Twoie’s hand and led him to the couch, sitting them both down. “So, what are you guys playing?”

“Peach Kart!” Jenny smiled.

Buck Dewey handed Twoie and Steven some controllers. “Join in.”

“Oh, sure.” Twoie said. “Thanks.”

Sour Cream sat on the back of the couch, behind Jenny. 

“You wanna join in, SC?” Jenny asked. 

“Nah, I’ll watch.” Sour Cream said. 

“Cool.” Buck nodded, selecting a track. 

The six of them played Peach Kart together, Twoie gradually loosening up and getting used to the Cool Kids. SC brought snacks, Sadie almost rage quit, Jenny glitched out part of the game and ended up going to a secret part of the map, which made everyone laugh, and before they knew it: it was night.

“Alright, gang! We ready to go?” Asked Jenny, grabbing her keys and jacket.

“Go?” Twoie tilted his head. “Go where?”

“Out? Did Steven not tell you?” Jenny asked. Sour Cream grabbed some glow sticks. “We’re gonna drive around and have fun.” He said. “Like in the corn field or dead man’s mouth… well, not dead man’s mouth anymore because of what happened last time…”

The Cool Kids shuddered.

“Yeah, that was creepy.” Buck said. “But there are more spots where we can have fun.”

Twoie nodded. “Huh. Okay.” He glanced at Steven and smiled gratefully. Steven squeezed his hand and then got up to go to the door.

“Wait, Jenny… How are we gonna get there? Your car only seats four.” Sour Cream asked.

“Oh!” Jenny gasped. “You’re right!”

“We could just pile in?” Sadie suggested.

Sour Cream shook his head. “No, that’s not safe.”

“I drove here.” Twoie piped up. “I could drive the people who aren’t in Jenny’s car.”

“Good idea! So who’s going with me and who’s going with Twoie?”

“I’ll go with Twoie!” Steven said. 

“Me, too.” Sadie shrugged.

“Okay!” Jenny said. “Meet y’all outside.”

They went out. 

Twoie hovered by the door, waiting for Sadie to catch up. Sadie slipped on her shoes and went out, too.

Twoie got to his car and unlocked it, Steven climbing in the passenger's seat with Sadie in the back. 

“Hey, man. Nice car!” Buck called.

Twoie looked back and smiled. “Uh, thanks!”

He got in. The Cool Kids drove off in their pizza car and Twoie began to follow.

Steven turned on the radio. Twoie tuned it to something fun and poppy.

Sadie frowned at the music choice. 

They drove for a few minutes before Sadie spoke up.

“So, Twoie… do you have magic powers like Steven? I hope that’s not rude to ask or anything…”

“Huh? Oh, no, it's not rude! Yeah, I got powers.”

“That’s cool.” Sadie nodded.

…

“Um, do you mind taking a small detour here?”

“What? Why?”

“We need to go pick up someone.”

“Oh, sure. Where to?”

“Right.”

He turned right and passed one block.

“Left.”

He turned left.

“And… here.”

They parked in front of Lars' place. Twoie frowned. “Lars!? What?? He’s invited?”

“Twoie! Don’t be rude!” Steven huffed. “Lars is cool!”

“Is he?” Twoie deadpanned.

“I know he can be a bit of a jerk sometimes but… once you get to know him, he’s actually kinda nice…” Sadie said. “And, um, the Cool Kids allowed a plus one for Steven, so…”

Twoie sighed. “Guess so… okay, go get him.”

Sadie got out of the car and went up to the house, ringing the doorbell. Lars opened the door a few moments later and smiled. They spoke for a second and then he looked up to the car. They got in together.

“Hey, Lars!” Steven greeted.

“Wh-- STEVEN!? Why’re YOU here? Where are the Cool Kids!?”

“They’re up ahead! We’ll meet up with them.” Sadie smiled.

Lars groaned. “Ugh.”

Steven sat back in his seat, seemingly oblivious to Lars' annoyance. Twoie frowned and turned back around, following the pizza car which had parked waiting for them. They all drove up to the countryside, where the corn field, brooding hill, and an abandoned barn was. Once parked up on the grass by the barn, they all got out.

“Alright! No-- oh my god.” Jenny frowned. “Lars?”

Lars waved. “Uh, hey, guys! Sadie brought me along.”

The Cool Kids gave each other a look.

Sadie chuckled nervously. “Um, Steven brought Twoie so I thought…”

“It’s whatever.” Jenny said. “Let’s just go have fun. Y’all wanna go for a dip in the lake or mess around in the barn?”

“I wanna rave in the barn!” Sour Cream cheered. Jenny laughed. “Alright! That cool with everyone?”

“Yeah!” Lars said too happily. Twoie snoofed and nodded along. “Sounds fun."

The inside of the barn was made of dark wood, with cobwebs hanging off of the rafters. There was a small second floor at the end of the barn with a ladder leading up to it. It looked cozy despite being abandoned.

“Cool…” Twoie commented as they entered. Buck sat down in a tire swing, SC climbed up the ladder, and Jenny, Sadie, and Lars sat on some hay bales. Twoie sat down with Steven.

“So…” Lars cleared his throat. “What are we gonna do?”

“What?” Buck looked over. “We’re just gonna chill.”

“What?” Twoie frowned.

“Yeah, we just chill here.”

“Wait, I thought you guys did stuff like… when we found the escape pod every night!” Steven said.

“Nah, that was just a really cool night. I mean, when are we ever gonna find alien junk again?”

“I’m alien junk.” Twoie said.

“What?” Jenny looked over.

“L-like, I uh… well, I’m half-alien. So’s Steven.”

“What??” Jenny gasped. “No way! You look normal, though! Oh, man, is that offensive?”

“Nah.” Twoie smiled. 

“Ugh, yeah, figures.” Lars rolled his eyes. “You and your weird family, Steven.”

“Hey. Don’t be rude.” Buck scolded. “Alien stuff is cool.”

Steven nudged Twoie and whispered. “Show them some gem powers!”

“You sure?” Twoie asked. 

“Can you glow in the dark?” SC called down, getting out some glow sticks. “I’m gonna start the rave~”

“I don’t think I can glow in the dark.” Twoie said. “But, uh, I can do… this?”

He summoned his shield.

Buck fell out of the tire swing. Jenny stood and gasped. “WHOA!”

Twoie blinked. “Sorry, did I scare you?”

“No, not at all!” Jenny said, walking over and touching the shield. “How did you do that??”

“I can do it, too!” Steven said, summoning his. Jenny beamed. “Oh my god! That’s so cool! What else can you do?”

Buck got up and came over, too. Lars huffed and looked off to the side. 

“Oh, uh.” Twoie chuckled nervously. “I can summon more things! Like…”

He summoned a hexagon and placed it on the ground. “Then…” He stepped on it and made it fly. Everyone stared in awe except for Steven and Lars. Sadie clapped. “Wow!”

Twoie lowered it. Jenny hopped on. “Make me fly! Make me fly!”

Twoie laughed and hovered it. Jenny whooped. “Oh my god!! This raves gonna be amazing!”

“Don’t you mean ‘out of this world’?” SC winked.

“Boo!” Buck called. SC laughed. Twoie laughed, too, floating a bit. Steven beamed.

“Start the rave, Sour Cream!” Jenny called. SC nodded and put on some music, blasting it through his pill speaker and tossing out glow sticks. Buck and Jenny whooped. 

“Yo, dude.” Buck walked up to Twoie. “Can you make me fly, too?”

“Sure!” Twoie smiled, summoning another hexagon and lifting up Buck. Buck beamed and looked at Jenny.

“Buck, you betta not be thinking of chasing me.” Jenny teased.

Buck smirked. “Watch out.”

Twoie let go of the hexagons. “Just stomp in whichever direction you wanna go!”

Buck stomped towards Jenny and she squealed, stomping her platform and flying away.

Steven walked up to Twoie. “Twoie! Can I do it, too?”

“Uh, sorry, buddy. I don’t think I can take much more…”

“No, I mean, I wanna make a hexagon!”

“Oh, okay!” Twoie knelt down. 

Sadie got up and started dancing a bit with SC on the top floor, both of them watching the hexagon chase with fascination. The music picked up and SC tossed out more glowsticks. Jenny caught one and stopped her hexagon to rave. Buck screeched to a halt but was launched onto her hexagon. They fell down on Jenny’s platform and Buck’s old one vanished. 

“Hey! Twoie! My hexagon vanished!” Buck called down.

Twoie looked up. “Uh, that’s okay! Just share! This is actually taking some effort, you know.”

“Oh! You don’t have to do that for us!” Jenny called. “We can just dance like normal!”

“No, it’s fine! Plus, look!” He gestured to Steven. Steven slowly made a hexagon and expanded it a little, then it vanished. “Aw!”

“It’s okay, buddy.” Twoie smiled. “I’ll take care of it.”

“How many can you summon?” Sadie called from the top floor. Twoie looked up. “Uh, maybe like three?”

“I think that’s perfect! Why don’t we share some? If it’s not too much trouble? Sorry, it just seems so fun!”

“Oh, it is!” Twoie beamed. “Come down here! I’ll summon some!”

Sadie and SC jumped down, and went to Twoie. Twoie summoned a hexagon and they hopped on. Steven looked to Lars and then to Twoie, then hopped on SC and Sadies hexagon. They smiled and greeted him as they floated up. 

“That just leaves you and Lars!” Steven called down. “Have fun!”

Twoie’s eyes widened. He glanced at Lars, who was on his phone on the hay bale.

Twoie smiled lopsidedly and walked over. “Hey, man.”

Lars looked up. “Oh, hey. You done being a weird space alien?”

“Nope.” Twoie held out his hand. “Come dance with me.”

“What? No. Dancing’s lame.”

“It’s lamer if you stay in the corner while everyone else is having fun.”

Lars shoved his phone in his pocket. “Was that an insult?”

“Nope. An invitation.”

Lars looked around at the groups who were chasing each other, floating around, and having fun. He sighed and shrugged. “Okay, yeah, it would be pretty lame if I didn’t dance with them, I _guess_.”

Twoie summoned a hexagon, straining a little and then pulling Lars onto it, floating them up and into the other groups. Everyone cheered when they came into the ring.

Twoie laughed and waved at them. Lars whined. Twoie looked up at him, then looked down once he realized Lars was crouched. He crouched, too.

“You okay?”

“Uh- we’re a bit high, huh?”

“Oh.” Twoie looked down. “Guess so… Don’t worry, I won’t let you fall, Lars. And if you do, I’ll catch you.”

“There’s no way you’ll be able to.”

“I’m half gem. I can go at the speed of light.”

“What?” He looked up. “You’re messing with me.”

“Okay, maybe not the speed of light. But pretty quick. I promise I’ll catch you.”

Lars sighed and stood up shakily. “Whatever… I just wanna enjoy myself.”

“Then enjoy yourself.” Twoie held out his hand. “I’m nervous, too.”

“I’m not nervous!”

“Just dance with me, Lars.”

Lars glanced at his hand and then took it. “Fine.”

The music switched to an electronic, fast-paced, song. Quicker and more lively than the last. Jenny and Buck were dancing on their hexagon, Sour Cream, Sadie, and Steven were raving on theirs. Twoie looked over and then started to rave, too. 

“What are you doing?” Lars asked.

“Raving! Just mimic me! Like nobody is watching!”

“But people are--”

“Sh.” Twoie said. “Enough thinking. Let’s have fun."

Twoie did a few dance moves and then pointed to Lars. Lars snorted. “This is stupid.” Then, he started dancing, too. Twoie chuckled and danced again.

The group of teenagers, plus Steven, danced for a long while, flying around, tossing glow sticks, raving, singing, just having fun. They sometimes switched places, getting to dance with new people. At the end, when Twoie’s power was wavering, he and Steven ended up together. Steven danced with Twoie, and he was so proud that Twoie was dancing freely-- not worrying about what the others thought, not worrying about if he looked stupid, or if he didn’t belong… he was just having _fun_.

Twoie picked Steven up and spun him around, beaming ear to ear and singing loudly to the music with everyone else. Steven laughed and hugged him, then Mega Steven stood on the hexagon.

Sadie gasped. “Whoa!”

Everyone turned to her, then turned to Mega Steven. Lars backed up. “Wha…”

Mega Steven looked at them and stopped dancing. “...” He looked down at himself and blushed. “Uh…”

“Who are you?” Jenny asked. Mega Steven bit his lip. “U-uh… I-- I’m Steven and Twoie, combined… I’m sor--”

“What!?” Jenny screamed in delight. “You two can COMBINE into ONE person!? That’s so _weird_!”

“Uh--”

“That’s sick!” SC grinned. 

Mega Steven frowned.

“That’s so cool.” Buck said.

“Cool?” Mega Steven blushed.

“YEAH!” Jenny squealed. “The four eyes is a bit freaky, but, hey! Welcome to the party, whoever you are!”

Mega Steven beamed and laughed. “Glad to be here!”

The music died down a bit and Mega Steven sighed. “I think I gotta get rid of these, now, though… it took a lot outta me.”

“No problem!” Jenny said. Mega Steven lowered everyone to the ground and dissolved the hexagons. Jenny rushed over. “So, like, what do you mean when you say you combined??? Does it hurt??”

“Jenny, chill.” Buck said.

“I’m just curious!” Jenny huffed. 

Mega Steven laughed. “It’s okay! Uh, so, Steven and Twoie’s bodies are made of flesh, but sometimes, they can… not be? So they turn into light? And that light combines into one person!”

“What?” Sadie tilted her head.

Mega Steven sighed. “Okay, so, imagine Twoie is the colour red and Steven is the colour blue. Red and blue make purple: which is like… a combination of them but also something entirely new. That’s what this is. I’m basically the purple.”

“Ohhh!” Jenny hit her palm in realization. “That makes sense! Can you do it with anyone?”

“Yeah!”

“Is it… weird to ask for you to… fuse with me?”

Mega Steven flushed. “Yes!”

“Oh!” Jenny blushed. “Sorry! I-- Is it like…”

“No.” Mega Steven chuckled. “It’s just a very intimate thing… sorry, Jenny.”

“It’s okay! Just curious.”

Mega Steven laughed. “You guys are great…”

Jenny laughed, too. Buck and SC chuckled. Sadie smiled. 

“Okay, I’m tired.” SC said. “I’m gonna grab the drinks. Everyone chill here.”

“Drinks? Like alcohol?” Mega Steven asked.

“What? No!” SC frowned. “We aren’t 21 yet…”

“Oh.” Sadie blushed. “I brought alcohol.”

“Sadie! That’s illegal!” Jenny scolded.

“Sorry! I didn’t know that it would be a big deal…!”

“It’s fine.” Buck said. “You guys can drink, I guess. We aren’t gonna, like, turn you in. I’m not drinking, though.”

SC waved Sadie over. “Wanna come with me to get yours, too?”

“Yeah.” Sadie said, getting up and walking out with him. Mega Steven flopped into the tire swing and spun around. “Wee!~”

Buck smiled. “You having fun, dude?”

“Yeah!”

“What’s your name, anyways?” Lars asked. “If, you’re, like… Steven and Twoie combined? S… Stewie?”

Mega Steven cringed. “EUGH! No. I’m Mega Steven.”

“Oh.” Lars snickered. “That’s a weird name."

Jenny shrugged. “I like it better than Stewie.”

“Same here.” Mega Steven said. 

“You havin’ fun, Mega Steven?” Buck asked. 

“Yes!”

“How about Twoie and Steven?”

Mega Steven chuckled as he tried to wind up the tire swing rope. “Yes, yes!”

“Need help, dude?”

“Hmm…” 

Mega Steven tried to twist the rope again, but failed. He sighed. “Yes.”

Buck chuckled and got up, spinning it. “Okay, but I go after.”

“Okay!”

Buck spun Mega Steven in the tire swing. Then, once it was wound up, let go. Mega Steven laughed as he was spun around, the world whizzing by. The tire swing swayed to a stop and he dizzily got up, collapsing on a hay bale. Everyone laughed.

“My turn.” Buck said, hopping in. “Lars, come spin me.”

“Oh, sure thing, Buck!” Lars said, eager to please, and started to spin him. Mega Steven chuckled. Same old Lars…

Sadie and SC returned.

“I got drinks!” SC called. “Water, juice, and Alligatorade!”

“And I got alcohol!” Sadie called.

Mega Steven looked up and decided to unfuse. Twoie walked to Sadie. Sadie pulled the beer away. “Whoa, whoa, how old are you?”

“Eighteen.”

“You don’t look eighteen.” Sadie narrowed her eyes.

“Does Steven look fourteen? We age slower, Sadie.”

Sadie looked over at Steven. Steven glanced up at her while getting his juice. Jenny grabbed a Sugar Shock Shutdown.

“No.” Sadie chuckled. “Okay, here you go. But nothing for Steven, okay? And don't get too drunk."

“Wouldn’t dream of it.” Twoie promised, walking back and sitting on the hay bale, cracking open his cider and taking a tentative sip. He winced. “Hmm…”

Steven looked up at him. “... Have you drank before?”

“No.” Twoie chuckled. “First time. And, well, last.”

“Oh, right.” Steven frowned. “Okay, then, go ahead.”

Twoie patted his back. “Sorry, I hope you’re not uncomfortable with me… doing this. It’s a bit weird for me, too.”

“No, no, it’s okay! I want you to be happy.” Steven smiled. “And, as you said… it’s your first and _last_ … so…” He shrugged. 

Twoie took another sip.

SC walked over and handed Twoie an Alligatorade. “Do both or you’ll be dehydrated. I also got snacks.”

Twoie gave him a thumbs up and SC sat on another hay bale beside them.

The group just relaxed for a bit, recovering after partying. Steven glanced at Lars and Sadie, who were talking to each other easily. He smiled, then sipped his juice box and looked over at Twoie. He was chatting with SC and laughing with him. It seemed the other cool kids had joined their side of the barn, so everyone was more together. Twoie had a happy glow to him and seemed at ease. Steven glanced down at the cider, which was half empty. Well, it could just be the alcohol… but Steven would like to think he was really happy, too. He felt his own heart brighten at that.

“Alright~ I’m kinda bored now.” Jenny said. “Wanna go somewhere else? The lake? Corn field?”

Buck shrugged. “I’m down for whatever.”

“Lake, please!” Twoie chirped. Steven agreed.

Jenny looked to the rest of the group. SC shrugged. “Sure, lake.”

“Wait, which lake?” Lars asked. “The… the one with the moss?”

“Eugh, no.” Jenny shuddered. “It’s a different lake.”

“Oh, okay.” Lars said. “Then I’m down for whatever.”

Sadie bit her lip and sighed. “Majority rules, huh?”

“Yep!” Jenny smiled. “Off we go!~”

She got up and stretched, checking her phone for the time then heading out to the pizza car. The Cool Kids followed. Twoie went to his car.

“Wait, dude!” SC called. “You’re drunk, aren’t you?”

Twoie looked over. “Nnnoo… Just tipsy!”

“You can’t drive.” Jenny said. “Come with us.”

“Wait, but then who’s gonna drive ever’body else?” Twoie asked.

“I have my permit.” Buck said. “It’s not a license, but I’d rather that than have us all pack into the pizza car.”

“Okay.” Twoie nodded, handing Buck his keys. Buck took them and thanked him, then opened up the car doors for Steven, Sadie, and Lars. Steven got in the back with Lars. After that, they all drove to a lake near brooding hill. 

When they arrived, Steven saw the kids in the pizza car get out and ran towards the lake, Twoie with them. Steven smiled and followed them. When he got there, they were already kind of undressed: Jenny in a tank top and shorts, Sour Cream in his shorts and a t-shirt, Buck in his jeans and a tank top, and Twoie in his shirt and jeans. There was an increasing clothing pile by a rock that Sadie added to by taking off her hoodie, shoes, and socks. 

“You sure this is safe?” She asked. “What if there’s stuff in there?”

“We’re sure.” Jenny said. “We’ve been doing this for a while, Sadie.”

“Oh, sorry.”

“What for?” Jenny tilted her head. “Just come in and swim!”

She ran to the edge and cannonballed in, whooping. SC put on some music and tossed glow sticks into the water, then leaped in, too, followed by Buck. Twoie, after some slight coaxing from the group, also cannonballed in. The group laughed as they were drenched. Steven took off his shirt and launched in.

Twoie blocked himself from Steven splash and chuckled, splashing him back. Steven chuckled and swung his arm in the water to make a wave that hit Twoie in the face. Twoie sputtered and laughed.

“Hey!”

They all looked up. Sadie was standing on top of a tall rock.

“Check out this dive!"

She jumped off and did a perfect dive into the water, coming up gracefully and pulling her hair back. Everyone clapped and Jenny laughed. “Wow, Sadie! Where’d you learn that?”

“I was in the Beach City Seals swim team. We made nationals.”

“Whoa, cool!” SC smiled.

Lars waded over to the group. They greeted him and then SC turned up the music, tossing glow sticks into the air and claiming it was ‘time to party!!!’

They spent a good half hour swimming, playing, and partying. Twoie loosened up a lot, now very comfortable around them. Steven was also comfortable, and Lars was starting to open up. They watched Sadie do her cool dives, tried some themselves, raved underwater with the glowsticks, and had a lot of fun.

\----

“Whew…” Twoie shook himself off, shivering a bit. “It is SO cold out here…”

“I know, right…” SC yawned, zipping on his pant legs. Twoie dried himself off and put on his shirt and jacket. “I am so tired…”

“Me, too…” Jenny said. “Mm.. I’m gonna dry off by the hill… come along if you wanna…”

“‘Kay…”

Jenny walked off. Twoie dried his hair with the towel and then followed her. Steven went with them, too, but stayed a little behind. He honestly felt like he was gonna pass out.

Twoie sat down by Jenny on the hill. She smiled and wrapped her arm around him. He chuckled and leaned against her. 

“You’re warm.” 

“Thanks, Twoie. You, too.” 

“Are we doing, like, a… warmth… huddle right now?” 

“Mhmm.” 

Buck came up and sat on the other side of Twoie, joining in on the warmth huddle. Twoie giggled. “Aw…”

Slowly, one by one, everyone joined. Including Steven, who was on the end of the line between Sadie and Lars. Everyone was huddled together.

The night sky twinkled beautifully, the moon shining on them all. The cool night breeze made the grass sway peacefully around them as bugs flew around and cicadas chirped. 

Twoie sighed peacefully. “This was great…”

“Yeah, it was.” Jenny said. “Man, it’s a shame you gotta leave tomorrow or whatever… where’re you going, anyways? Maybe we can visit?”

Twoie frowned. Steven glanced over.

“Um…” Twoie huddled closer to her. “I probably shouldn’t say, I don’t wanna ruin the mood…”

“You won’t.” Buck reassured. “Are you going to another country or something?”

Twoie gulped. “...”

“We can still text, y’know.” Jenny said. “Or call or whatever.”

“... It’s not that. Um…” He sighed. “I’m going somewhere you… can’t reach me. Truth is, I’ll be ‘leaving’ this life and moving onto the next… if you know what I mean.”

Jenny gasped. Everyone’s attention immediately snapped to him. Steven looked away, shaking a little.

“What?” Sadie asked in a whisper.

“... I can’t explain much of it… but… I’m 100% positive I’ll be… ‘dead’ tomorrow. Or at least, sometime very soon. Steven wanted me to have a fun time before I went.”

Sadie glanced at Steven and put a hand on his back. “Oh my god…” She muttered, looking up at him.

“Dude…” SC whispered. “A… are you really sure?”

Twoie nodded. “I’ve known for a while now. I’m sorry, everyone. I wasn’t going to say anything.”

“...” Jenny hugged him. “I’m so sorry.”

Buck hugged him, too.

SC got up and walked behind him, holding him. Soon, everyone came up and hugged Twoie. Even Lars joined in on the outer circle of it. 

Twoie cried softly. “You guys…”

Jenny shushed him and wiped his tears. “It’s okay.”

He smiled weakly and leaned into her. “You're all so kind…”

“Don’t mention it, man.” Buck said.

“Y-yeah…” SC choked. “Oh, man, now I’m getting sad.”

A disheartened chuckle passed through the group. Everyone seemed to agree.

“I hope I didn’t ruin the night…” Twoie said.

“No, you didn’t.” Jenny reassured.

“Yeah, you’re fine.” Buck said.

“Yeah, dude.” SC patted his back.

“It’s okay, Twoie…” Sadie said.

Twoie sighed in relief. “G-good…”

“...”

“Are you okay?” Lars asked quietly.

“Yeah.” Twoie rasped. “I guess. Sad now. I-It’ll pass, though. I have to go, no matter how I feel about it.”

Steven whimpered. Sadie brought him in and hugged him tighter. Steven hugged back.

“...” Jenny wiped her eyes and stood up. “Y’know what? Y-you don’t deserve to be sad tonight, Twoie.” She held out her hand. “You can be sad all you want tomorrow, but tonight’s all about fun, right?”

Twoie stared up at her. “I… yeah, it is.” He grabbed her hand. She pulled him up and held his hand tight, giving him a determined look. 

“Then tonight’s gonna be fun. The best night you’ve ever had, okay?” She turned to the group. “This is gonna be the best night of this guy’s life, alright? We are gonna go _all out!_ We gotta make this the best goodbye party _ever!”_

SC smiled and pumped his fist weakly. “Y-yeah! Party ‘til sunrise!”

Twoie laughed weakly. “Oh my god, you guys…”

“Yeah!” Sadie cheered, still tired but fighting. “Party ‘til sunrise!”

“Yeah!”

“Yeah!!”

Jenny whooped and lifted Twoie’s hand up like victory. _“PARTY ‘TIL SUNRISE!!_ RIGHT, TWOIE?”

Twoie laughed, tears still in his eyes, and hugged her. “Yeah!!!”

The group whooped and Jenny dragged Twoie back to the car. “Okay, let’s go!”

The Cool Kids followed.

Sadie chuckled weakly and wiped her eyes. “Oh, man…” She pressed her lips into a tight line and looked down at Steven. Steven was still hugging her. She hugged him back.

“I’m so sorry about your brother.” She whispered. “It must be hard…”

“It is.” Steven choked. “It’s really hard."

Sadie sighed and squeezed him, trying to pass him as much love as she could. “Mmn!”

Steven squeezed back and then they let go.

“Steven, if you ever need someone to talk to about all this… you can come to me, okay? I can’t promise I can help, but I’ll try and be a good listener.”

“That’d be nice.” Steven sniffled. “You’re a really good h-hugger, too.”

She chuckled. “Then I’ll be giving you as many hugs as you need.”

Steven smiled gratefully. Lars placed a hand in his hair and Steven looked up at him. Lars smiled tensely.

“I’m sorry about being a jerk to you and your brother, man.” He murmured. “If I had known that all that stuff was going on, I never would of said your family is weird… Truth is…”

He sighed.

“You guys are really nice. I don’t think you’re weird. Well, not because you're an alien, anyways, you are a weird kid, like, in terms of personality or whatever--” 

Steven chuckled.

Lars blushed. “A-anyway, I just wanted to say I’m sorry and… you can talk to me, too. Though, don’t know why you would. I’m bad at that stuff.”

“...”

“And you can also have a free donut everyday. You and your brother.”

Steven gasped. “Really?”

“Yeah.” He smiled. “I doubt our boss would notice a few lost donuts.”

Steven hugged Lars. “Thank you. This means a lot. That goes for b-both of you.”

Lars hugged him back.

Sadie hugged Steven, too.

Jenny honked the horn and they startled out of their group hug. They gave each other a look and then chuckled, heading back to the cars.

It was a very good night. Twoie had a great time and then around 3 AM, when they were exhausted, they headed back to Sour Cream’s house and had a slumber party. Twoie and Steven didn’t leave his house until 12 PM the next day.

As they drove home, Twoie had a big smile on his face and stars in his eyes that didn't fade until they were pulling up to the temple.

Steven watched him the whole time, heart warm.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Leave a comment if you enjoyed!


	36. For Real This Time

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Twoie says goodbye to his family.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> tw// underage hangover

When they arrived home, Steven bounced in happily and shouted.   
  
“We’re back!!!” 

Twoie groaned and rubbed his head. “Whoa, no shouting…”   
  
“Oh, sorry.”   
  
“Oh! Did you two have fun?” Pearl asked from the couch, looking over to them. Garnet and Amethyst took notice, too. 

“Yep.” Twoie said, taking his pills and then scrounging around for Advil and tea.

“It was awesome!” Steven cheered, jogging over to Pearl and sitting down next to her. “So, we went to this barn and Twoie showed off his cool powers-- like summoning these cool platforms people could fly on and then we raved and danced and we  _ fused _ and then we uh… relaxed for a bit and then we swam in a lake, and talked and looked over the cliffside and drove around some more and just had fun! Then we went to a sleepover at Sour Cream’s place and played video games in the morning! Buck cooked us breakfast.”   
  
“That sounds excellent!” Pearl smiled, patting his head. Twoie sat down beside them with some tea.

Steven giggled. “Yeah! I just wanted him to have a good send off, y’know?”

Pearl’s hand paused in his hair and the mood dropped instantly. Amethyst leaned back into the couch and hugged herself, looking away. Garnet sighed and looked off.

Steven felt his own heart drop as well. “... Sorry.”

“No, it’s okay, Steven.” Pearl said, heart heavy. 

“... Does he really gotta go  _ now _ ?” Amethyst asked Garnet.   
  
Garnet shrugged. “We’d just be delaying the inevitable.”

“Yes… and it would be better for it to be  _ now  _ and we can say our goodbyes and not when an attack is happening and Twoie just has to escape through the portal.” Pearl added.

“Yeah…” Steven sighed.

Twoie, who had been sipping his tea, swallowed and set it down on the table with a soft thunk. He let out a short huff and got up, walking over between Amethyst and Garnet and taking the time piece off of the shelf above them. He walked back over to the main room of the house and glanced towards the gems and Steven.

“...” He sighed. “Um, should we call Dad? I feel like he’d wanna say goodbye.”   
  
Pearl nodded. “Yes, he would.”   
  
Steven got out his phone and dialed his father. After a quick conversation, he hung up and pocketed the phone.

“He’ll be here in a few minutes…” Steven said.

“Okay.” Twoie nodded.

Steven then got up, walking over to Twoie. Everyone followed suit, Amethyst getting up last. One they were all lined up. Twoie activated the timepiece, opening up a blue portal behind him. He looked back at it for a moment, seeing a never ending spiral before him, swirling like a vortex. He gulped and set down the timepiece before walking to the gem who was the first on the left: Pearl. 

“... Pearl… I…” Twoie sighed. “I know this must be really hard for you… you probably don’t want to see me go, and I don’t want to go either… but this must be done.”

“I understand.” Pearl said, her voice watery. She set a hand on his shoulder and brought it down to his hand to hold delicately. Twoie squeezed it and smiled up at her.

“You’ll do just fine.” He reassured. 

Pearl nodded and hugged him. Twoie hugged her back. She squeezed him and leaned back to kiss his forehead lovingly. He let out a soft chuckle and kissed her cheek before they pulled back completely. Twoie squeezed her hand again before letting go and moving onto Amethyst.

“Hey, Amethyst…”   
  
Amethyst had her arms crossed over her chest, shoulders bunched up around her neck like her nerves. She glanced up at Twoie through her bangs. 

“... You okay?” He asked.

Amethyst bit down on her lip and looked to the floor, clenching her shirt. “...”   
  
“Amethy--”   
  
She rushed forward and hugged him around the waist, holding back tears. Twoie stood for a moment in surprise then smiled softly, leaning down and hugging her back. 

She separated a moment later, hand still on him. “Listen, man, I don’t like goodbyes but-but I’m gonna promise you something, okay? And you don’t have to say  _ anything _ back.”   
  
She pointed to Steven.

“I’m gonna make sure  _ that  _ kid grows up to be the best, most happiest, kid  _ ever _ , okay!? I’m gonna make sure he loves himself, and-and doesn’t have to deal with all the  _ bullshit _ going on right now because I know that’s what YOU want and that’s what HE deserves.”   
  
She hugged him again, burying her face in his stomach.

“I PROMISE that.”

Twoie blinked. 

“...”   
  
He let out a watery laugh and hugged her tight.

“ _ Thank you _ . You have no idea how much that means to me…”

They stayed together for a moment longer, then Amethyst pulled away and wiped her tears messily. “Man, why do you always gotta say the  _ sappiest _ junk that makes me cry!?”

Twoie laughed. “Same for you!”   
  
Amethyst snorted. “Oh, shut up and just go.” She shoved him off playfully. Twoie chuckled and turned to Garnet.

“Garnet, I-- MMPH!”   
  
Garnet had yanked him in for a big bear hug, lifting him off the ground and squeezing tight, bottom lip quivering.    
  
“G-garnet-- you’re hurting me--” Twoie rasped.

Garnet sniffled. “Sorry, Steven.”   
  
She squeezed him real tight then dropped him. Twoie coughed and pounded his chest.

Garnet put a hand on his shoulder. He looked up.

“There’s a chance we’ll meet again, Steven.” Garnet said. “But it’s about as likely as every other path. I hope we see each other, but I also hope you’re a happier person.”   
  
Twoie nodded. “... Well, I’m sure I will be. Thank you, Garnet, for… being there for me and protecting me… and…”   
  
He gave her a quick hug. 

“I love you.”   
  
Garnet chuckled and hugged him back. “Love you, too.”   
  
Twoie pulled off and then moved to Steven. He sighed and crouched down.

“So…” He began, an uneasy smile on his face. “When my therapist said I needed to love myself, I never thought I’d do it like  _ this _ .”   
  
Steven snorted. “Twoie…”   
  
Twoie chuckled and ruffled his hair. His smile faded. “... I’m really gonna miss you, y’know. Um. Amethyst, Pearl, and Garnet will still be around, but you… you’re me. So… I won’t really _ have _ you the same way I do now.”   
  
Steven nodded. “Same problem for me…”   
  
“... But I’ll still be with you, in a way, won’t I?” Twoie said, holding his hands. Steven sniffled. “Everywhere you go, everything you do, I’ll be with you, as a part of you, Steven. And I want you to know that on that journey… throughout your life… I’ll  _ always _ be proud of you. No matter if you fail, or if you end up worse than me, or… if you do something really bad. I’ll still be there for you and I’ll still be very proud of you, no matter what.”   
  
He kissed his forehead. Steven wept.

“So take care of yourself, okay? Allow yourself to fail, allow yourself to have fun… and allow yourself to  _ love _ yourself. Just like you love me. And I love you.”   
  
He hugged him.

“Goodbye, Steven.”   
  
“Goodbye, Twoie.”

They stayed in that hug for a minute longer, silent, just soaking up their warmth and love, feeling their identical hearts beat together. Eventually, Twoie pulled back and stood up.

“One last thing.”

He pulled out an envelope from his pocket and handed it to Steven. Steven frowned in confusion and turned it over. On the front, in nice handwriting with a star next to it were the words  _ “For Steven”. _

“Don’t open that until I’m gone, okay?” Twoie said. “And, there’s some more stuff for you in Lion’s mane. And if the stuff in Lion’s mane messes up, then there’s backups in Rose’s room.”   
  
“That’s a lot of precautions.” Amethyst teased lightly.

Twoie shrugged. “I’m a cautious guy. “

Steven pocketed the letter and nodded. Twoie smiled at him.

The front door burst open. “I’m here! I’m-- oh.” Greg froze, staring at the portal. “... Wow.”   
  
Twoie snoofed and opened his arms. “Hey, Dad.”   
  
Greg walked over and met him in the hug, squeezing him tightly.    
  
“I’m gonna miss you, Steven…”   
  
“I’m gonna miss you, too, dad.” Twoie said, pulling back and kissing his dad’s cheek. “But I’ll see you again. When I’m all grown up.”   
  
Greg whimpered. “Aw, Steven…” He pat his head. “I can’t wait. I’m already so proud of who you’ve grown up to be, y’know…”   
  
Twoie smiled. “I’m happy to hear that.”   
  
They squeezed each other in a big hug before Twoie pulled off. 

“Okay, everyone.” He said, turning back to them and waving. “Goodbye.”   
  
“Goodbye.” Pearl said.

“Bye, dude… I’ll miss you.” Amethyst mumbled.

“See you again someday.” Garnet said.

“See ‘ya, Scthu-ball…” Greg said.

“... I love you.” Steven said.

Twoie smiled at them, and then gave a special smile to Steven, before stepping into the portal.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry no sike :(
> 
> but this is not the end! there are more chapters coming soon!


	37. Memories

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Twoie remembers his childhood.

The portal closed behind him, and Twoie was instantly sucked through the vortex. He screamed at first, but no sound came out, and he couldn’t hear anything. His body felt like sand, breaking off and vanishing away. He blacked out for one second, then woke up, and his body was back, but different. His injuries from his life were gone and new ones replaced them. His entire being was being transformed…

His brain was changing, too.

Memories were slipping away. His family, his friends, his entire life… down the drain. Turning into sand and vanishing away.

Then new ones replaced them. New ones, almost identical, of his family, his friends, his entire life…

He forgot so many things…

He remembered so many things…

_ He remembered… _

Twoie’s letter.

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

After Twoie left through the portal, everyone was a blubbering mess. He didn’t think they all calmed down until at least half an hour afterwards, and that’s including all of them together-- Pearl took the longest. He opened Twoie’s letter carefully, taking out the page like it was sacred; and it was, to him.

It read:

_ TWOIE’S TIPS _

_ Hey, Steven! So since I’m leaving and can’t protect you anymore, I figured I should write down some major events in my life and how to handle them (or, at least, how  _ _ I  _ _ think you should handle them. I dunno, maybe everything’s different. Also, sorry, it seems like giving advice is all I do but I have a lot to give. So, here goes. Hope this isn’t a let-down. _

_ BLUE DIAMOND WILL BE IN KOREA SOON. _

_ You’ll start having dreams about seeing a Pink Palanquin. That was your mother’s. Blue Diamond is visiting it to grieve before the planet dies (idk why it’ll die. Maybe she was talking about the cluster? But you already stopped that so we’re good. I  _ _ think _ _ ) Don’t go there then. She’ll kidnap your Dad and take him to the human zoo. Btw you guys should help the zoomans (zoo humans) after peace is established. Human zoos are kinda messed up. _

_ A RUBY WILL COME BACK TO STEAL HER SHIP _

_ My memory’s kind of foggy on this. Just don’t trust her. Or maybe try to make her nice. She’s not that big of a threat to be honest… btw all the other rubies are still in space :( rescue if you wanna but you don’t have to do that now. She’ll arrive at the barn. _

_ KIDNAPPINGS BY AQUAMARINE AND TOPAZ _

_ People will start to go missing in Beach City. They are being kidnapped by a small blue gem and a large yellow gem: Aquamarine and Topaz. Rescue as soon as possible and stop them!!! If they carry the humans onto the ship successfully, and you go on, I HONESTLY do not know what to do. Because if you surrender yourself as Rose Quartz, the humans (except Lars who will be hiding) will be let go and you’ll be taken (DON’T TELL THEM YOU’RE PINK DIAMOND. THE DIAMONDS WILL NOT LET YOU LEAVE) and then Lars will die. But letting Lars die means he gets a bunch of cool friends and you get to go home through his hair. If you don’t let Lars die idk what happens. To be honest this is kind of like the trolley problem. Sorry, Steven :( but in the future Lars is pretty happy even though he died, if that helps you decide. (btw if you cry on someone they’ll come back to life. This works for gems, too, but only with all Diamond essences.) _

So on and so forth.

Steven, Greg, and the gems were horrified by all the events described by Twoie. They all tried to find the bright side in their own ways. Garnet said this made seeing pathways a lot easier, Pearl was happy that they all knew what to prepare for, Amethyst and Greg were trying to agree with Pearl, and Steven was just happy to see some of Twoie’s personality in the writings. He smiled and held the sheet close, making sure to take a ton of pictures of the sheet for back up. Jeez, he really  _ was  _ cautious.

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

_ He remembered… _

Twoie’s video tape.

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

It was about a month after Twoie’s departure, and Steven had just started getting his Blue Diamond dreams. He didn’t act upon them, thanks to Twoie’s letters, and his dad was safe. It was around then he decided he was ready to see whatever Twoie had in Lion’s mane. He had been waiting because firstly: he was still grieving, and secondly: he was saving them for sometime special. But then he realized that no time would really feel  _ right _ and so he hopped into Lion’s mane, bubbling himself to make sure he had oxygen.

Inside Lion’s mane, on top of the treasure chest, was a tape with the words  _ “For Steven”  _ on it with a star. Steven smiled, recognizing the handwriting. As he moved forward to grab it, he noticed something else. Beside the treasure chest was a small box, not locked, with a paper on it that read in nice handwriting, with stars instead of dots:  _ Don’t open until after you see the video. Or do, I’m not the boss of you :)” _

Steven laughed. Twoie…

He decided to heed Twoie’s words and instead popped his bubble, grabbing the tape and exiting Lion’s mane. He then ran upstairs and sat himself down in front of the TV. He looked around first, wishing he had a little more privacy.

An idea struck him and he got up, bubbling the tape for safekeeping and running to the Big Donut. Inside, he greeted Sadie and Lars, who were very nice to him. He asked Sadie if he could use the back room, since Twoie left him a tape. Sadie said he could and unlocked it for him, letting him in. 

“I’ll make sure it’s quiet for you.” Sadie reassured.

Lars walked in, headphones on, and set down a donut and drink. Steven smiled. “My favourite… aw, Lars!”   
  
Lars blushed and turned up his music. “You’re welcome.” He grumbled.

He left. Steven smiled. He knew Lars cared deep down. 

He got up and put the tape into the TV, sitting back at the table and sipping his drink, readying himself.

It clicked on.

_ Twoie was on screen, in his special place. It was sunset. He pulled away from the camera and held out his hands, ready to catch it if need be. _

_ “Is- is it good?” He asked himself, leaning around to check and then smiling. “Yes! It’s recording! Okay.” _ _   
_ _   
_ _ He stood in front of the camera and cleared his throat. _

_ “Hey, Steven! So, how are you? I didn’t really have a whole big message to tell you, but I figured I should record a tape anyways… Um, I’ve probably already told you all this in my goodbye, but whatever.”  _

_ He chuckled nervously. _

_ “... So, um… I hope you’re doing good, even though I’m gone. A lot of scary stuff is probably happening right now, huh? Or-- has happened. I don’t know when you’re watching this-- maybe you’re, like, my age already and looking at this for guidance, or to see how you’ve changed from me… maybe you’re, like, 50 or something. Oh, man, that’d be crazy…” _ _   
_ _   
_ _ He waved his hands in front of himself.  _ _   
_   
_ “Sorry, sorry, I’m rambling. But-- well-- would you mind if I rambled? I didn’t exactly script this because I thought that’d be a bit artificial…” _ _   
_   
Steven chuckled and took a bite of his donut. “No, Twoie, I don’t mind…” He muttered to himself.

_ “Anyways! Uh-- life’s probably crazy right now. But I know you can make it through this! I did! And if you’re dealing with worse stuff right now than I did because I messed up or whatever then I’m sorry-- but also you’ll be fine in the end. One day, all this crazy stuff will stop, Earth will be at peace, and you won’t be in danger anymore. That day will probably be after the empire is dismantled. But don’t rush to that because if you do that could cause more problems, y’know? BUT one day everything will calm down and you’ll probably feel a little useless, right? Because what  _ else  _ have you been doing for your entire life other than saving the world? Just go to a therapist, you’ll be fine. In fact, that’s my advice forever: just go to therapy. Your dad’s rich. And don’t waste your time not talking. Spill it, okay? You’ll get better.” _

Steven nodded to himself and wrote that down in his phone.

_ “Though, not to say therapy is a cure-all, you’ve gotta work at it, too…” Twoie let out a breath he was holding and then groaned.” Oh, god, all I know how to do is give you advice… you must be SO annoyed right now… should I start over?” _

_ His finger hovered behind the camera. _

_ “...” _

_ “Nah, it’s fine. I mean-- ugh. Sorry, I just… I wanted my video to be really good and impactful and meaningful and something to make you feel better when I was gone: not just me rambling at, like,” _ _   
_ _   
_ _ He checked his phone. _

_ “10 PM. But, y’know.” He shrugged. “I’m the one who decided not to write a script. Um. Let’s steer away from advice for now, huh? Let’s just talk about… other stuff! Good, fun, stuff. ‘Cause I already gave you that letter, right? If I forgot that, then, uh, there’s a copy in Lion’s mane. So don’t worry. It’s in the box. Did you open the box? If you did, I really hoped you liked my present, Steven… maybe it was stupid or maybe I’m being weird and WAY too sentimental or whatever the hell but I know you love me… so…” _

_ “...” He shook his head, mumbling. “Yeah, yeah, he loves me. Don’t get fucking weird." _

_ He sighed. _

_ “Whatever. Man, this has been going on for a while, hasn’t it? You’re probably bored to death. You can pause this and come back later, I won’t be offended. I’m just gonna keep rambling, I guess. What were we talking about? Oh! Right! Fun stuff! Like… oh! There’s this cool roller rink by Ocean Town you and Connie should check out! It’s a good way to make friends and also really fun! Skating’s cool. Also, Stevonnie’s an excellent skater. And there’s an arcade in it, too! With new games that aren’t in Beach City! It’s fun, check it out. Um… I had fun there, at least. Oh! And there’s this amazing place in Keystone…” _ _   
_   
Twoie rambled on and on, practically having a conversation with himself. Sometimes, he’d trail off and question if he was talking too much, or if Steven would be annoyed, but always reassured himself that it was fine and Steven could just not watch the video if he wanted to.

Steven sat through every second. He finished his donut, his drink, and finished another donut before the video was finally at its end

_ “I think that’s  _ literally  _ everything I had to say.” Twoie said, chuckling. “Oh, man, how long is this?” He leaned over and checked the camera.  _

_ " _ _ OH MY GOD I TALKED FOR THIRTY FIVE MINUTES.”  _

_ He leaned back and put a hand in his hair, laughing to himself. “I’m so fucking crazy oh my god, Steven. Fuckin--” He snorted. “I just talked your ear off for THIRTY FIVE minutes holy shit. Maybe I should have scripted this. Maybe I’ll film another that’s scripted…” _ _   
_ _   
_ _ He shook his head and sat back up. “Nah, nah, it’s fine… You already have the letter, so if I said anything important, it’s probably in there. Uh… I guess this is goodbye, then?” _ _   
_ _   
_ _ He scooted closer to the camera and picked it up. “Actually, before I say goodbye, I want you to look at this.” _

_ He panned around his spot, flowers swaying in the wind, illuminated by the almost set sun. Everything was orange and pink, glowing dazzlingly just like the stars that were starting to peek out above. He set down the camera again. _

_ “Just in case you wanna visit.” _

_ He stretched and yawned. “Okay, okay, for real this time. Goodbye, Steven. I love you, okay?” _

“I love you, too.” Steven said, heart heavy.

_ “By the way, if you just said something like ‘I love you, too’. Then thanks.” He made a heart with his hands and smiled. _

Steven laughed.

_ “So, yeah, goodbye. Everything will turn out okay in the end, I promise.” _

_ He leaned in close, a bittersweet tone in his voice. _

_ “Take care of yourself, Steven." _

The video shut off.

Steven sat there for a moment, just being. He felt… weird. Twoie’s video was definitely comforting, and for a moment, it felt like he was still there.

But he wasn’t.

It was silent, now. 

Twoie was gone.

He sighed and got up, ejecting the tape and holding it in his hands. It felt so heavy to him, everything did right now, the walls were closing in…

He let out his breath and curled up on the floor, leaning against the back wall, knees to his chest.

“...”   
  
He cried softly for a few minutes and hugged himself, just how Twoie would if he was there-- and he was, in a way, but not in the way Steven wanted.

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

_ He remembered... _

His whole life.

He grew up alright. Did he grow up better than Twoie did? Maybe. He was never Twoie, so he didn’t have a frame of reference other than measuring how many things in his life went right, and how many went wrong. Most things turned out better than they did for Twoie, since he had a guideline. But even with that guideline, he messed up sometimes. Ruby took back her ship, Lars died, Lapis left Earth, and his gem was torn out by White Diamond. And some things were even  _ worse _ . When he tried to stay away from dancing at the ball with Connie, since Twoie was unsure if being locked up was the only way, Connie went out and danced, trying to get him to join. Steven said no, tried to get her back, but it seemed having an unruly ‘pet’ was unacceptable and Connie was thrown out into the zoo on her own. That took a  _ while _ to get that problem fixed and instead of it being a few days to get the Diamonds on his side, it took two  _ weeks _ to do so. 

But, just like Twoie said, it all worked out in the end.

He got therapy earlier then Twoie did, probably, but it wasn’t early enough. He started just after dismantling the empire, when he was sixteen. But that got derailed after Spinel attacked Earth, then he didn’t go back until about three months later when he was already feeling bad…

A lot of stuff happened after that.

Twoie never warned him about the swelling, about the doctors, the therapists, the panic. He never warned him about vengeful thoughts he would have towards the Diamonds and Spinel, he never warned him that one day he might just not want to deal with therapy anymore, that he’d cut himself off and reject the gift Twoie gave him out of spite. He never warned him that he would try to hide his discomfort so hard that it’d end up exploding into violence, hitting Spinel viciously after she was just a  _ bit _ too pushy and screaming bloody murder at the Diamonds, cursing them and their empire for all they’ve done to him and everyone he knew. Twoie never warned him about going home, feeling so angry, so  _ betrayed _ , that he would start to  _ look _ like Pink Diamond-- that it would make everything worse until he turned into a being of pure rage. He didn’t turn into a monster, no, he just blasted apart everything he touched, screamed his lungs out, and eventually broke down crying, to be comforted by his family.

So did he turn out better?

He didn’t know.

But he was  _ getting _ better, and that was the point. 

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The last of ‘Twoie’s’ memories slipped away, replaced with that of an older Steven with a different life. Like sand, it blew away into the vortex.

Finally, Steven came out the other side, landing in his living room.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This isn't the end yet! There are more chapter(s?) coming soon. 
> 
> Anyways, please leave a comment! I love hearing your thoughts so much! they motivate me to keep writing and make more content for this fic! Also it's just so fun to read them :)


	38. Goldie

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Steven sees himself again

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GDTD24KsdGc (Love like You)  
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nro2ECSXOWc (Love like You music box)
> 
> listen to these if you want. They're the best at the end though.

Steven opened his eyes, then narrowed them again, the harsh light of the world proving to be too much for him right now.

He heard something behind him and gasped, glancing back. He saw the portal that delivered him vanish into thin air.

“Whoa.” Amethyst muttered from the couch. “Dude, what just happened? You were standing there, then you like, disappeared for a second, and then a portal appeared??”   
  
“I think I just traveled back.” Steven realized. “As Twoie. You remember that? When he left? I think I just came out the other side of the portal.”   
  
Amethyst choked on her food. “WHAT!? No way!! What was it like?”   
  
“It was…”   


It slipped away.

“... I don’t remember.” He frowned. “Darn.”   
  
Amethyst frowned, too. “Oh… uh, well, you wanna talk about it?”   
  
“Nah, I’m good. Uh, what was I just doing?”   
  
“You were gonna, uh…” She thought. “I dunno. You just came back from hanging out with Connie.”

Steven furrowed his brows, trying to remember. Suddenly, that memory of him hanging out at Connie's resurfaced. It felt like it had always been there.   
  
“That’s right! I did!” He nodded. “Okay. Uh, I… I’m gonna go to the bathroom. See ‘ya later?”   
  
"See 'ya!" Amethyst waved. 

Steven went into the bathroom then shut the door behind him, sinking down a bit as he breathed out his stress.

“Wow…”   
  
He walked up to the mirror and looked at himself. Although he’d seen himself a thousand times, it felt new somehow.

He had dark brown, curly, hair, longer than usual. Around his neck were some friendship necklaces, and on his wrist were two friendship bracelets, all acquired from travelling and meeting new people (and one from his girlfriend: Connie). He had on some eyeliner and golden eye-shadow, sparkling under the bathroom light. Instead of the pink jacket and black shirt Twoie wore, he wore a dark blue star shirt under his white and gold jacket that Twoie had left for him in that box so many years ago, along with a replica of his pink jacket. 

He ran a hand through his curly hair and tilted his head around, really looking at himself.

He looked a  _ lot _ like Twoie.

He wondered if he  _ was _ Twoie still. Sure, he was different, Twoie didn’t look exactly like him, and he didn’t go through the same stuff Twoie did, but… was he really him? Or was he someone entirely new?

…

He got up and left to Rose’s room.

When the door shut behind him, he steeled himself and stepped further in, taking in the room's infinity. The last time he did this… it didn’t end well.

But Twoie wasn’t like her. 

“Room… I-- I wanna speak to Twoie.”

The clouds began to spiral: up and up and up until finally, he appeared. Twoie looked calm, and slightly happy. The light on his face was similar to the one in his video: the one Steven had watched a thousand times. He smiled warmly at Steven, then waved.

“...” Steven gulped. “Hi, Twoie.”

“Hi.” Twoie greeted. “Wow, you grew up fast, huh?”

“Guess I did.” Steven chuckled. “... Maybe this wasn’t a good idea.”   
  
“Oh, it’ll be fine.” Twoie said, patting his shoulder. “I’m just happy to see you again.”   
  
Steven paled. “Nope, nope, don’t-- don’t do that.”   
  
Twoie flinched back, hurt on his face. “I’m sorry, Steven…”

“It’s okay.” He reassured. “I just wanted to see if I was… if I was anything like you. But… obviously, I can’t tell. Because… you aren’t real. You’re clouds.”   
  
“I’m not?” Twoie asked, astonished. “Uh, well… you  _ are _ like me! Because we’re the same person, right?”

“Right…”

“Let me give you some advice--”   
  
“Room, get rid of it.”   
  
'Twoie' poofed.

Steven sat down, burying his head in his hands. “Ugh, okay, that obviously didn’t work… uh ... Y’know what? Let me see  _ Steven _ and I don’t mean  _ me _ like right now, I mean--”   
  
The clouds were already swirling.   
  
“Oh, uh, okay.” Goldie muttered, watching the illusion form.

The clouds built up, making Steven, but then…

Dispelled.

“What?” Steven frowned. “Why didn’t it--”   
  
The clouds swirled again, then another bunch of clouds swarmed around him. He backed up. 

“Whoa! Whoa! Why’re you--" They engulfed him. "Mmph!”

It was dark. He could hardly breathe.

Suddenly, they poofed. He landed on his back, gasping for air.

The voice of a young boy rang through the room. 

“That’s weird… you don’t look anything like Twoie…”   
  
Steven’s eyes flew wide and he sat up, coming face to face with a younger him. He sighed.  “Oh, it’s just you.”   


Young Steven looked down at Steven’s clothes. “... Twoie had a pink jacket, room, not white… this- this is all wrong!”   
  
“What are you talking about?” Steven asked. “Room, this is a weird approach…”

The younger Steven tilted his head. “Why’re  _ you _ talking to the room?”   
  
“Uh, because it made you wrong.” Goldie responded.    
  
“Made m-- it made YOU. What are you talking about?” Steven exclaimed.

“It didn’t make me! I asked it to have me speak to my younger self!” Goldie argued.   
  
“I asked it to let me speak to Twoie!” Steven countered.

Both stared at each other.

Young Steven reached out a hand and poked Steven’s leg. To Steven, it looked like Younger Steven’s hand dissolved into clouds as it pushed into his leg, and to Younger Steven, it looked like Steven’s leg was turning into clouds and allowing his finger to poke through.

Both backed up immediately.

“... Room, is he real?” Steven asked, voice shaking. “Speak to me!”   
  
A tiny pink whale appeared. “I did what you asked, Steven. Both of you.”   
  
Steven stared at the other him. “... But if that’s… that’s me, wouldn’t I remember--”   


A splitting headache attacked him and he cried out in pain, doubling over. Younger Steven gasped and ran over, trying to comfort him. “Oh my g-gosh, are you okay?!”   
  
Steven groaned as the headache subsided. His eyes went wide.

“I remember this.”

“What?”  
  
“I remember being you, talking to _me_.”  
  
“... H-how do I know you're real?” Younger Steven whimpered, backing up. “Th-this is just the room tricking me again…”

“Um.” Steven thought. “What day is it for you?”   
  
“Uhhhh August 8th…?”   
  
Steven thought. “... You just hung out with Onion, I think, and now Peridot will invite you to spend the night tomorrow at the barn…? She has her laptop or phone, right?”   
  
“... I gave her a laptop, yeah.” 

"..."  He turned and walked off, a door appearing for him that he exited through. 

Steven stared. “Whoa.”

A few minutes later, Younger Steven came running in. 

“TWOIE! TWOIE! TWOIE!!! PERIDOT JUST INVITED ME TO SPEND THE NIGHT!!!"   
  
He ran forward and tried to tackle him in a hug, but passed right through. Steven shuddered. “Whoa, really? She did? So… does that mean…”   
  
“WE CAN TALK!” Younger Steven cheered. “Oh my gosh, Twoie…” He wiped his eyes. “I can’t believe it…”   


Steven frowned, gazing down at his overjoyed, crying, younger self. He felt a twinge of guilt pass through him. He knelt down and wrapped his arms around Steven, unable to actually hug him-- but wanting the sentiment to still carry through.

“I'm sorry, Steven, I’m not Twoie.”

“What?” Younger Steven asked, eyes going wide. 

“Look at me.” Steven gestured to himself. “Do I look like him to you?”   
  
“... Um.” 

Younger Steven gave him a once over.

“N-no, but… but you… you’re still-- still me but grown up... S-so, it's the same, right?"   
  
Steven shook his head. “Yes, but… I’ve been through so many different things than him. I’m sorry… I'm not him."

Younger Steven stared at him for a moment longer, as if any second Twoie would appear instead. Goldie just gave him a sorrowful look, another apology on his lips.  
  
Younger Steven hiccuped, tears falling down his face as he shook his head.  


"N-no... No... you-- you have to-- I asked for Twoie... s-so..."

He sobbed, falling to his knees. "No... I need Twoie, I want-- You have to be--" 

He cut himself off with another sob, before he began to wail.

Steven bit his lip, his own heart breaking at how anguished his younger self was. He scooted farther, gently hovering his hand over Steven's back. 

"I'm so sorry, Steven..."  
  
Younger Steven looked up at him, eyes bleary from the tears. He sniffled and wiped them away in vain as more came down.

"R-room, I wish that I could actually h-hug him..."

He reached out his arms, and Steven scooped him up into his lap, holding him close just how Twoie used to do.

“It’ll be okay…” Steven murmured. “I know it hurts, but, we can still get to know each other, can’t we?”

Younger Steven sniffled and held him tighter. 

“You sound so much like him..."

“Yeah?” Steven asked, a smile coming to his face as he remembered how it felt to be held by Twoie. How now his own arms aligned with that memory. However, a new memory was being formed, too: a new memory of caring so deeply for this small child, of wanting the best for him no matter what. And how, even though it seemed impossible, he wanted to protect him in any way he could. 

"Yeah." Younger Steven replied.

"...I'm glad."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The end (?)
> 
> To answer some questions I know might come up: No, there is no timeloop. Every interaction just creates an alternate timeline without affecting the prime one. And Goldie might shift, but it doesn't make a big impact on their timeline. 
> 
> I can't thank you guys enough for your support, it's what helped me keep going through this fic and pour all my love into it. Even though the ending was short, I hope it was enough to satisfy you. Sorry, I'm not good with words, but I really DO appreciate every single one of you <3 I hope you'll continue to support me as I make more content for Time Travel in the future (The Twoie's stories and ITT). You're all the best :)

**Author's Note:**

> Please leave a comment if u enjoyed!!


End file.
